The U.S. Department of the Interior has launched a new federal water conservation program. The agency will work with private groups to encourage habitat health and water-use efficiency.
The Natural Resource Investment Center will allow businesses to accumulate credits for taking part in successful conservation programs. Those credits can then be used to offset a company’s environmental impacts from other projects, like mining on public land.
Groups like the Nature Conservancy and the Willamette Partnership are expected to invest in the initiative.
In addition to forming public-private partnerships, the Natural Resource Investment Center funds water efficiency infrastructure projects across the country, including the construction of new pipelines and canals to combat prolonged western drought and unpredictable river levels.
Department of the Interior press secretary Jessica Kershaw says the project won’t add to the agency’s current budget. The Center will start to outline specific conservation projects and partnerships early next year.
