IMAGINE A GREATER GREAT LAKES


Pay-For-Performance
Shedding Pounds of Phosphorus

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have become a key concern in the Great Lakes region. Many communities have struggled with the effects of the toxic green substance, which has compromised the region’s water quality. Recently, the most notable and public case was the bloom in the Western Lake Erie Basin during the summer of 2014 that made Toledo, Ohio’s public drinking water supplies unsafe for consumption. While many factors contribute to HABs, one of the main causes is phosphorus. Phosphorus is a nutrient found in manure and fertilizers. It makes its way to lakes, streams, and the Great Lakes by being picked up by water that runs off surrounding farmland, urban areas, and other land uses.




In order to lessen the occurrence of HABs in the Great Lakes region, a new program known as “pay-for-performance” has been implemented in several watersheds. Pay-for-performance is “an approach to conservation that rewards farmers based on their nutrient loss performance,” stated Dr. Jon Winsten of Winrock International and one of the pioneers of pay-for-performance. “A price is set” added Monica Day, an Extension educator working with the pay-for-performance project in the Western Lake Erie Basin, “Dollars per pound of phosphorus saved—and the impact on phosphorus runoff is calculated using a model." Once the price for reduced phosphorus leaving the farm is set, farmers are encouraged to incorporate environmentally friendly practices into their agriculture business. After the practices have been installed and utilized, payments are distributed based on projected phosphorus reductions in stormwater. These reductions are predicted by modeling software developed by scientists at University of Michigan, The Ohio State University, and Michigan State University.


Over the last 15 years there have been several successful pay-for-performance projects, including two initiatives led by Winsten, one in Iowa and another in Vermont. The Iowa project took place in the Coffee Creek watershed, and showed significant success. Participating farmers implemented conservation practices on their land, and eventually saw an annual 65% decrease in phosphorus leaving the fields, detailed in a report by Winrock International, Iowa State University Extension, and University of Vermont. Another project implemented in the Missisquoi River watershed in northern Vermont boasted an annual phosphorus reduction of 16% on farm fields. This project was also described in the aforementioned report.


Currently there is a project underway in the River Raisin watershed of southeast Michigan, which is connected to Lake Erie. Winsten is also involved in this project, along with Day and many other partners. The project in the River Raisin watershed hopes to reduce HABs in the Western Lake Erie Basin by encouraging farmers to lessen the phosphorus leaving their fields. The team is “hoping to enroll enough [farmers] to make a tangible difference in water quality,” Dr. Margaret Kalcic, a modeler and researcher involved in the project said, “At this time, farmers have been recruited and the computer models for calculating the phosphorus reductions are in their final development stages.” Another pay-for-performance-project, led by Winsten and supported by the Great Lakes Protection Fund, is in progress in the Milwaukee River Watershed.


The major benefit of the pay-for-performance program is that it puts farmers in the driver seat, and highlights their efforts to be good stewards of the environment. Winsten noted that pay-for-performance “engages farmers as business managers and harnesses their skills as innovative problem-solvers.” Farmers are given direct incentives to implement conservation practices, and rewarded for their efforts. Its ease of implementation makes it a one-size-fits-all approach to phosphorus reduction. “This is a cost effective way to reduce nutrient loads from farm lands. It can be used anywhere,” Day said. The program is applicable to any region, and can benefit all watersheds.


Iowa and Vermont Report: Winrock International, University of Vermont, Iowa State University Extension, Pilot-Testing Performance-based Incentives for Agricultural Pollution Control: Highlights from the Field



"This is a cost effective way to reduce nutrient loads from farm lands. It can be used anywhere."
- Monica Day



Author: Shayna Petit

Shayna is a Masters student in the Department of Community Sustainability at MSU, who also works with the Institute of Water Research.