The document discusses using riparian restoration to help the City of Medford, Oregon comply with new temperature limits in its NPDES permit. Restoring 10-15 miles of native riparian vegetation along streams would cost $6.5 million, far less than the $16 million option of building a large holding pond. Restoration would create jobs and keep money in the local economy by paying local contractors and providing annual lease payments to farmers. It outlines the process for generating verified ecosystem service credits from restoration projects that could then be purchased by regulated entities to meet compliance obligations.

1. Case Study: City of Medford
For restoration to be a viablecompliance alternative...
CLEAR AUTHORITY:
Regulators must adopt and promote required rules
CLEAR FRAMEWORK:
Approved standards and protocols for measuring ecosystem
services and implementing credit generating projects
CLEAR ROLES:
Third parties (such as The Freshwater Trust) willing to assure delivery of
compliance-grade credits with secure, turn-key projects
Population: 170,000
Projected Excess Heat under new TMDL limits:
300 million kcals/day in 10 years
Options:
ÆÆ Giant holding pond to store water for 1 month each year:
$16 Million
ÆÆ 10-15 miles of native riparian vegetation restored and
maintained for 20 years:
$6.5 Million
Outcome:
ÆÆ Riparian restoration program to comply with NPDES
permit requirements
Money Stays in Local Economy:
ÆÆ Money pays local restoration contractors
ÆÆ Farmers get annual lease payments
ÆÆ Restoration = 20 jobs per $1 Million spent*
* Adapted from M. Nielsen-Pincus, C. Moseley. 2010. Economic and Employment
Impacts of Forest and Watershed Restoration in Oregon. Ecosystem Workforce Program
Working Paper Number 24. University of Oregon. http://ewp.uoregon.edu sites/ewp.
uoregon.edu/files/downloads/WP24.pdf
Local
Restoration
Partners
(e.g. Watershed
Council)
Regulated Entity
with Projected
Exceedance
(e.g. Wastewater
Facility)
Contracted
Stream Restoration
Organization
(e.g. Non-Profit)
Completed
Project/Credit
Generation
(Uplift for ecosystem
services through
restoring streams)
Verified,
Certified and
Registered
Credits
(Completed by a
third party)
Regulated
Entity
Purchases
Credits to Meet
Compliance
VERIFIED
CERTIFIED
REGISTERED
Local
Nurseries
Local
Contractors
Local
Landowners
Local Heavy
Equipment
Operators
Project Funding
Recruitment
Credit
Calculation
Verification,
Certification
Credit
Registration
Project
Implementation
Credit Sale
Riparian Restoration vs.
Credit Generating Restoration
Restoration Transaction Process
Traditional Restoration Steps Compliance-Grade Credit Generation Steps
Identify project site Identify project site
Fundraising Financing
Negotiate 20+ year contract with landowner
Collect pre-project data
Project design Project design
Estimated credit values
Implement Implement
Verification that implementation meets standards
Certification that credits meet accounting protocols
Credit registration
Monitoring and maintenance (Years 1 – 3) Monitoring and maintenance (Years 1 – 3)
Monitoring and maintenance (Years 4 – 20)
Annual payments to landowners (20+ years)
= Local Project Managers = The Freshwater Trust
Year 1 Conditions: September 2012
As Built Conditions: May 2012
Year 2 Conditions: September 2013
Photo Point 1B
Photo Point 1B
Photo Point 1B
Photo Point 2A
Photo Point 2A
Photo Point 2A
Photo Point 3A
Photo Point 3A
Photo Point 3A
Credit Type Pre-Project Post-Restoration Reduction
Temperature
(kCals/day)
56,246,205 41,726,475 14,519,730
Phosphorus
(lbs/year)
6 1 5
Nitrogen
(lbs/year)
103 12 91
Sediment
(lbs/year)
8,243 3,331 4,912
Water Quality Trading Program
Requirements and Monitoring
Julia Bond, The Freshwater Trust, Portland, OR, USA
The Freshwater Trust is a 501(c)(3)
not-for-profit organization that
actively works to preserve and
restore freshwater ecosystems.
Julia Bond
Ecosystem Services Analyst
503.222.9091 x33
julia@thefreshwatertrust.org
www.thefreshwatertrust.org
65 SWYamhill St #200
Portland, OR 97204
Projections
based
on tree
maturity
BEFORE Restoration AFTER Restoration
HOW IT WORKS:
Calculating Uplift for Solar Load Avoided
UPLIFT = Change in kilocalories per day (a measurement
of energy)
Solar Load Solar Load Avoided
Four Keys for Communities
ÆÆ ECONOMIC: Restoration for compliance is generally far less expensive than technological
solutions, spread over many years
ÆÆ SOCIAL: Restoration keeps money in the local community, creating jobs
ÆÆ ECOLOGICAL: The restoration solution converts point-source investment into non-point
source projects, with multiple environmental benefits
ÆÆ TURN-KEY: Cities only pay for certified credits
Nutrient Tracking Tool — http://nn.tarleton.edu/NTTWebARS/
A. Saleh, O. Gallego, E. Osei, H. Lal, C. Gross, S. McKinney and H. Cover. 2011.
Nutrient Tracking Tool—a user-friendly tool for calculating nutrient reductions
for water quality trading. Soil and Water Conservation Society. November/
December 2011 vol. 66 no. 6 400-410
Heat Source — http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/tmdls/tools.htm
M. Boyd and B. Kasper. 2003. Analytical methods for dynamic open
channel heat and mass transfer: Methodology for heat source model Version
7.0. Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
Three Keys to Restoration Viability