rr~~~rer quality

doi: 10. 2489 / jSWC.64.3 .8SA

_, ~:::~~:~e~e~~~~rr~~~rer

quality:

Peter Maille, Alan R. Collins, and Neil Gillies

T

he conventional approach to address­

ing agricultural nonpoil1t poJJLltion (ANP) focuses on voluntary con­ servation measures that are lmplemented by farmers with cost-sh;lre assistance and technical support from the government (Ribaudo et a1. 1999). These conservation measures are generally directed by federal agencies to conform to strict behavioral guidelines in order to receive the assis­ tance. Cost-shne programs, however, are falling short in two respects: (1) water quality goals are not being met, and (2) they are expensive. For example, the US Environmental Protection Agency (2002) has estimated that agriculture impacts 48% of impaired flvers and 41 % of inlpaired lakes. These water quality problems per­ sist despite billions of dollars being spent on conservation cost-share programs by the federal government over the last two decades (US General Accounting Office 2005). This article describes the first two years of a field experiment that examines ,] performance-based payment approach to ANP as an alternative to conventional cost-share programs. Performance-based payments have been used widely both in the United States and globally to nlOtivate land managers to provide environmental services (Wunder, Engel. and Pagiola 2008) Our field experiment differs from previ­ ous performance-based payment schemes in several ways: wHershedwide payments are made to a group, rather than to indi­ vidual farmers; this group determines how payments are allocated; payments are a function of water quantity and quality; and farmers determine what, if any, ANP abatement actions to take.

is an assistant professor in the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, Eastern Oregon University, La Grande, Oregon. Alan R. Collins is a professor in the Agricultural and Resource Economics Program, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, Neil Gillies is executive director of the Cacapon Institute, High View, West Virginia. Peter Maille

JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

The most interesting observation to date is that participating farmers have encouraged and facilitated coHeetion of additional water quality data. Instead of being perceived as a threat, these data have become a tool for famJers to use in order to better understand their watershed and make informed decis.ions that will allow them to address problems regarding their stream and stiJJ make money.

STUDY SITE This field experiment was conducted at Cullers Run watershed. This stream is a tributary of the Lost River located IrJ the eastern panhandle region of West Virginia. Cullers Run watershed occupies 2,978 ha (7.360 a) III Hardy County, West Virginia's largest poultry production county. Sixteen percent of the watershed is devoted to agriculture, mostly pasture or hay land. Row crops comprise 3.63'% of the agri­ cultural land and are located primarily in the floodplain (Cacapon Institute 2(02). The rest of the watershed is forest. There are 12 poultry houses conducting intensive poultry production in the watershed. Most agricultural fertilizer use in the watershed is proVIded by poultry Jitter. Cullers Run was chosen for this project because of the following reasons: it is smaJJ enough to limit the number of potential farmer participants; it has a long history of water quality sampling data (since 1995) collected at the same location; and crop land is concentrated at the lower end of the watershed, providing a distinct nitrate gradient related to land use. Thus, Cullers Run was judged to be a streanl with a reasonably good chance of measuring an effect of changes in agricultural practices within a manageable timcframe.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The field experilllent began in December 2006 with an II1formational campaign to local farmers_ These efforts included a presentation at the local Ruritan Club, articles In the local newspaper, and a letter sent to all agricultural landowners (based on agricultural land use tax exemptions) in

the Cullers Run watershed ll1viting them to an tntroductory meeting. DUring the winter ~)f 2007, a series of four meetings were held oy project researchers. Each of these meetings was attended by 20 to 30 people. Overall, a substantial portion of fanner households ill the watershed attended at least one meeting. We also made efforts to involve community elites in the project. A county extension agent attended a meeting, and a county commissioner was recruited to lead one of the meetings. State and federal government conservation agency person­ nel attended meetings and assisted with prese nta t.io ns. During these meetings, the field exper­ iment was described as a unique research project involving economic incentives to abate ANP. These incentives were in the form of rnonthly payments over an mitial period of two years, based on the quan­ tity and quality of water Gowing from the watershed, to farmers who chose to participate. The meetings included presen­ tations about water quality as an Issue in Cullers Ru n and the Lost River watershed in general. There were two important outcomes from these meetings: (1) a written agree­ ment was created with the input of farmers, and (2) a farmer advisory COIll­ mittel' was established to determine how to allocate the watershed payments among participants. The agreement was discussed and revised a number of times during the meetings. 1t served to clarify the institu­ tional framework of the expeflmel1t and outlined the roles and responsibilities of both farmers and researchers. Each par­ ticipating farmer signed a copy of this agreement along with the project research­ ers. A copy of this agreenlent is available by contacting the authors or VIsiting the project Web site (Cacapon [nstitute 20(8). Creation of an advisory committee emerged as a suggestion by farmer attend­ ees durmg a meeting led by a county commissioner. The purpose of this meet­ ing was to assist tJrmers in determining how they would organize themselves as a

Reprinted from the Journa! of Soil alJd Wale,. CO/l,e,vtJliolJ, Volume 64, Number 3 ~'l 2009 by the Soil and Water COllServation Sociery. All rights reserv