Effluent trading for water quality management: concept and application to the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

This paper examines the present and potential role of effluent trading in water quality management. In particular, it focuses upon the case of the Chesapeake Bay on the east coast of the US, where the implementation of a trading system has been discussed and undertaken. Potential benefits of effluent trading include advantages such as the following: (1) With appropriate monitoring and enforcement, the total pollutant loadings can be kept at or below the prespecified level.