WATER QUALITY CREDITS
Eligible landholders may be able to generate a new income stream by improving ground cover, reducing erosion and keeping valuable soil on their property.
DROVER can help you understand whether there is an opportunity on your property, develop a practical project and generate verified credits from the outcomes you achieve.
Water quality credits put a financial value on actions that reduce pollutants entering rivers, waterways and other sensitive environments.
For grazing properties, this commonly means reducing the amount of fine sediment lost through erosion and runoff. This is achieved by maintaining better ground cover which protects the soil from heavy rainfall, reduces soil movement and helps keep sediment out of downstream waterways.
When an eligible sediment reduction is measured and independently verified, water quality credits may be issued. These credits can then be purchased by governments, businesses and other organisations investing in better catchment and water quality outcomes.
For landholders, this creates an opportunity to earn additional income from land management improvements that may also support productivity, resilience and long-term land condition.
Generate water quality credits from eligible, measured reductions in topsoil and sediment leaving your property.
Improve the protection of your soil by supporting more productive, resilient pastures.
Keep more valuable topsoil and nutrients where they belong – on your property.
Use property-specific data and insights to identify where changes to grazing land management, fencing, water infrastructure or remediation could deliver the greatest benefits.
Use property-specific data and insights to identify where changes to grazing land management, fencing, water infrastructure or remediation could deliver the greatest benefits.
Healthy ground cover protects the soil from the impact of rainfall and helps slow the movement of water across the landscape.
It delivers benefits in terms of reduced erosion and runoff, moving landscapes from a cycle of degradation to a cycle of productivity.
DROVER Monitor identifies areas of low ground cover and erosion risk, then isolates and measures how improvements in grazing management increase ground cover over time. This feeds into the Grazing Land Management (GLM) method which calculates reductions in sediment runoff which can be awarded with water quality credits.
Landholders must develop a Grazing Land Management Plan to improve ground cover, with the aim of designing changes that are achievable within your operation to support both environmental and production outcomes.
Eligible activities landholders can undertake to improve ground cover may include:
The ENVOMARK Reef Credit Scheme operates within Great Barrier Reef Catchments.
Eligible landholders may be able to generate Reef Credits by undertaking land management improvements that reduce fine sediment flowing into waterways connected to the Reef.
AUSTRALIASIAN CATCHMENT WATER IMPROVEMENT STANDARD (ACWIS)
ACWIS provides a framework for verified water quality projects across Australia and the wider Australasian region to generate ENVOMARK catchment credits.
The approval of the Grazing Land Management Method under ACWIS creates the potential to apply this approach to all catchments in Australia.
We review your property location, enterprise, historical ground cover and erosion risk to determine whether a water quality project may be feasible.
DROVER Monitor uses satellite data and locally relevant reference areas to distinguish the effect of land management from seasonal and climatic variation.
If the initial opportunity is promising, we complete the technical work required to define the project area, establish a baseline and develop a Grazing Land Management Plan.
Together, we identify practical changes that could increase ground cover, reduce erosion and fit with your enterprise goals.
You implement the agreed land management activities, supported by the DROVER team.
Ground cover, rainfall, land condition and sediment reduction are monitored to measure the results achieved by the project.
Project results are independently verified in accordance with the relevant methodology and scheme requirements.
Where eligible sediment reductions have been achieved, credits can be issued and offered to buyers.
Water quality is a voluntary market so projects are not held to the same permanence requirements associated with carbon markets and are not required to go on the land title.
Credits are only awarded when outcomes have been delivered and verified, so projects can be stopped by the landholder at any time with no requirement to payback credits already earned.
In some circumstances, a property may be able to support both a water quality and carbon project.
The Clean Energy Regulator recently approved the stacking of water quality and carbon credits, and we are running a series of pilot projects with Meat and Livestock Australia and AgriProve to demonstrate stacking in real-world conditions.
Water quality projects can be stacked with savanna burning, vegetation or soil carbon projects. Many of the management changes to increase soil carbon are aligned with increasing ground cover, so combining soil carbon and water quality together is an opportunity for landholders to generate additional environmental outcomes and value.
DROVER Land Management can provide the assessments, baselines, and compliance processes required to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). These verified credits can be sold through government auctions or voluntary markets, creating new and lasting income streams.
Healthy soils store more carbon and support productivity. Discover how small changes can generate credits and long-term income.
Not necessarily. Eligibility and commercial viability depend on factors including your location, current and historical ground cover, erosion risk, available management changes and project scale. An initial assessment is the best way to determine whether further investigation is worthwhile.
Absolutely not. The Grazing Land Management method is designed for working grazing enterprises. However, participation will usually require changes to the way grazing pressure, pasture recovery or infrastructure is managed. The specific changes depend on your property and project plan.
There is no standard figure. Potential income depends on the amount of eligible sediment reduction achieved, the number of credits generated, project costs and the price buyers are willing to pay for the credits.
No. Carbon credits represent measured or modelled greenhouse gas abatement. Grazing-based water quality credits represent measured reductions in fine sediment entering waterways. The markets have different methods, rules, risks and timeframes, although some properties may be able to participate in both.
Water quality credits are issued after eligible outcomes have been quantified and independently verified. The timing of credit issuance will depend on rainfall, project performance and verification schedules, but we expect them to be awarded annually as a minimum.
Credits are only generated from eligible outcomes that are measured and verified. If no improvement is achieved, credits will not be issued. There is no risk of having to pay back credits that have been issued for outcomes that have not been delivered.
Unlike carbon projects, water quality projects have no minimum legislated permanence period so landholders can decide to exit the project at any time. If work has been undertaken on your behalf to set up the project there may be some exit fees to consider. This scenario should be set out in your project agreement, so be sure to discuss it with your project developer.
Whether you’re looking to improve land condition, diversify farm income or better understand environmental credit schemes DROVER can help you assess the property and understand your options. Complete the expression of interest below and one of our team will contact you for a confidential, no-obligation discussion.
