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Nutrient TradingWaterActive · v1.0

Nutrient Reduction Credits (N / P)

Regulatory trading of nitrogen / phosphorus load reductions (e.g. US Chesapeake Bay). A compliance mechanism distinct from volumetric replenishment.

Registry
N/P
Sector
Water quality (regulatory)
Credit
NRC · kg N
Issued as
org.hypercerts.claim.activity

The issued hypercert is a batch of NRC credits recorded at once, comparable to a registry issuance batch. It carries weighted contributors, a work scope and a rights record, so any app in the ATProto Collective Funding Ecosystem can read it natively.

ScopesWaterWater qualityNutrient tradingRegulatory
Aligns toWatershed TMDL / permit
Plain-language version →Methodology document ↗N/P registry ↗

Overview

Nutrient trading, also called water quality trading, is a market based approach that lets sources reduce nitrogen and phosphorus loads to a watershed and sell the resulting reductions as credits to regulated point sources that must meet permit limits. Eligible activities are mainly nonpoint source practices such as agricultural best management practices that lower nutrient loads below an established baseline, and reductions are certified against that baseline. One credit generally represents one pound of total nitrogen or total phosphorus kept out of the receiving water over a defined period. Programs operate under state rules and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits, often tied to a Total Maximum Daily Load.

Sources: methodology document · Nutrient Trading

01 · Roles

Standard Registry

role · registry

Owns the policy, approves participants, anchors each issuance to its evidence.

Project Proponent

role · proponent

Registers the project and submits monitoring reports.

Validation & Verification Body

role · vvb

Independently validates the design and verifies monitored data.

02 · Policy graph

10 nodes

The workflow as an explicit directed graph. In Graph each column is one role, so you can see who acts at each step; every node names the org.broadlistening.policy.block.* def it resolves to plus its input and output record. Data flow switches to a lineage view that makes explicit what data each node needs and makes, with dependency arcs tracing every record back to the node that produced it. Hover to trace, click to inspect; revise edges (dashed) send work back.

Hover to trace · click to inspect

Standard Registry
Project Proponent
Validation & Verification Body
Issue hypercert

Issue water credits

Standard Registry

A hypercert batching the water credits issued for the period, anchored to the bundle.

Lexicon
org.broadlistening.policy.block.issue
Input
org.hypercerts.collection + the computed total
Output
org.hypercerts.claim.activity

Node kinds in this graph

  • Role selectorg.broadlistening.policy.block.roleSelect
  • Request documentorg.broadlistening.policy.block.requestDocument
  • Revieworg.broadlistening.policy.block.review
  • Persistorg.broadlistening.policy.block.persist
  • Computeorg.broadlistening.policy.block.compute
  • Aggregateorg.broadlistening.policy.block.aggregate
  • Issue hypercertorg.broadlistening.policy.block.issue
  • Provenanceorg.broadlistening.policy.block.provenance

control-flow event

revise (sends back)

03 · Generated lexicon records

The records this methodology compiles to, ready to write to a PDS. The first tabs are the new policy engine records; the ★ claim.activity tab and those after it are reused ATProto Collective Funding Ecosystem records (org.hypercerts.*): the issued hypercert batch, its rights, an example verification attachment and a retirement receipt.

org.broadlistening.policy.methodology/nutrient-trading

{
  "$type": "org.broadlistening.policy.methodology",
  "code": "Nutrient Trading",
  "name": "Nutrient Reduction Credits (N / P)",
  "registry": "Nutrient Trading (N/P)",
  "sector": "Water quality (regulatory)",
  "creditType": "water",
  "status": "active",
  "version": "1.0",
  "scopes": [
    "Water",
    "Water quality",
    "Nutrient trading",
    "Regulatory"
  ],
  "aligns": [
    "Watershed TMDL / permit"
  ],
  "roles": [
    {
      "id": "registry",
      "name": "Standard Registry",
      "permission": "Owns the policy, approves participants, anchors each issuance to its evidence."
    },
    {
      "id": "proponent",
      "name": "Project Proponent",
      "permission": "Registers the project and submits monitoring reports."
    },
    {
      "id": "vvb",
      "name": "Validation & Verification Body",
      "permission": "Independently validates the design and verifies monitored data."
    }
  ],
  "schemas": [
    "at://did:plc:bl0adl1sten1ngp0l1cyreg/org.broadlistening.policy.schema/nutrient-trading-water-intervention",
    "at://did:plc:bl0adl1sten1ngp0l1cyreg/org.broadlistening.policy.schema/nutrient-trading-water-monitoring"
  ],
  "graph": "at://did:plc:bl0adl1sten1ngp0l1cyreg/org.broadlistening.policy.graph/nutrient-trading",
  "issuesAs": "org.hypercerts.claim.activity",
  "workScope": "at://did:plc:bl0adl1sten1ngp0l1cyreg/org.hypercerts.workscope.cel/nutrient-trading-scope",
  "rights": "at://did:plc:bl0adl1sten1ngp0l1cyreg/org.hypercerts.claim.rights/nutrient-trading-rights",
  "createdAt": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000Z"
}

04 · Schemas

Water Intervention

schema · water-intervention

The catchment, activity and baseline for a water benefit.

FieldTypeReqDescription
catchmentstring✓Catchment / watershed identifier.
activitystring✓Replenishment, efficiency or quality activity.
methodstring✓Accounting method, e.g. WRI VWBA 2.0.
baselineM3number✓Baseline annual water balance (m³).

Water Benefit Measurement

schema · water-monitoring

Measured volumetric (or quality) water benefit for a period.

FieldTypeReqDescription
projectref✓strongRef to the registered intervention.
periodstring✓Measurement period (ISO-8601 interval).
benefitM3number✓Net volumetric water benefit (m³).
qualityParamstring·Optional quality parameter (e.g. kg N, kg P) for quality benefits.
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