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A new water quality credit trading program in the Great Miami River Watershed is offering $390,000 in funding for agricultural conservation practices. But premature rulemaking could limit the project's future.

The program would allow municipalities to meet future nutrient discharge limits by funding agricultural management practices that reduce nutrient discharge throughout the watershed.

"If it works as well as everyone anticipates, this project will be a good model for other places in the state and nation," said Larry Antosch, OFBF director of environmental research and a member of the project's advisory group.

However, Antosch said the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency wants to establish formalized rules for such programs.

"They're not looking at any existing trading projects as opportunities to learn from," he said.

That means municipalities may be reluctant to participate if they feel Ohio EPA may enforce new rules down the road.

"Cities don't want to be dealing with a moving target," Antosch said.

OFBF has twice sent letters to the agency regarding this concern.

"Supporting multiple pilot water quality trading projects in Ohio provides Ohio EPA the opportunity to test several new ideas and approaches to trading and learn from them. Both are necessary, prior to entering into rulemaking, if in fact rulemaking is needed at all," wrote OFBF Executive Vice President Jack Fisher in a letter to Ohio EPA.

To take advantage of existing funds, landowners in the watershed can submit project proposals through their Soil and Water Conservation District by March 10.