Nutrient farming is an innovative engine for financing wetland restoration through ecosystem service credits. Landowners along the floodplain could restore wetlands on their land, use these wetlands to remove or “harvest” excess nutrients from surface water and sequester carbon from the atmosphere, and sell the credits to dischargers who cannot cost-effectively meet environmental standards.

A large-scale pilot project in the Upper Mississippi River Basin will demonstrate the potential of nutrient farming to provide cleaner water, reduced sedimentation in our rivers, increased wildlife habitat, and floodwater storage.

The Wetlands Initiative and its partners are working to develop a nutrient farming pilot project to demonstrate how new green technologies can improve our environment and our economy.