ESTABLISHING A STORMWATER VOLUME CREDIT TRADING PROGRAM

Around the country, municipalities, stormwater agencies and their partners are developing creative solutions to close the resource gap. Stormwater credit banks and trading programs provide compliance flexibility while bringing private capital and property into the solution mix. Optimized grant programs can target priority outcomes and align with other funding sources. Public-private partnerships and pay-for-performance contracting models can bring private sector financing to bear. “Green bonds” match environmental and community benefits to public expenditures.

These solutions also open the possibility of developing projects on private property. When private property owners can contribute to, and benefit from, municipal green stormwater infrastructure programs, limited public funding and resources can be leveraged to create multiple benefits for clean water and communities.