A Spatial Assessment of Possible Water Quality Trading Markets in Tennessee

Trading in water pollution reduction credits, or “water quality trading,” (WQT) has been touted as a cost-effective solution to water quality impairments caused by nutrients and other oxygen-demanding pollutants. However, trading programs require buyers and sellers to be successful. Whether a particular source of pollutants is capable of participating in a trading program depends upon the spatial relationship of that source to both impairments and other sources. This paper analyzes these spatial relationships for all of Tennessee's watersheds to evaluate the feasibility of water quality trading and to identify areas where trading programs are most likely to be successful. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.