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)5 <br /> consultants crafting the possible nutrient trading program and appears to offer <br /> some potential. <br /> It also appears that much of the nutrient trading and offsets may be able to occur <br /> through existing County programs, like Lands Legacy, cost-share programs <br /> through USDA, stormwater programs within the Erosion Control office, and other <br /> efforts. One of the more interesting approaches that may be feasible is creation <br /> of an Orange County in-lieu fee program. This may generate funds that Orange <br /> County can leverage with its other conservation programs to meet nutrient load <br /> reduction requirements under the rules. <br /> In the long run, this may be the most fruitful area of activity, with the County <br /> serving as an alternative "mitigation bank" to the Ecosystem Enhancement <br /> Program or other mitigation opportunities. <br /> 4. Agriculture in the Upper New Hope and Haw Arms <br /> The agricultural provisions in the portions of Jordan Lake watershed in Orange <br /> County are voluntary at first, but may become mandatory in nutrient goals are not <br /> met. The expectation among agricultural agencies is that, in most cases, the <br /> measures outlined for agriculture can be met through the voluntary approach. As <br /> previously noted, there is little agriculture remaining in the Upper New Hope Arm <br /> and substantial activity in the Haw Arm. <br /> Additionally, as noted in the agricultural section of this report, the possibility may <br /> exist over time for farmers to generate credits for nutrient reduction and sell or <br /> trade those credits to other users. <br /> 5. State Funding Assistance <br /> Many jurisdictions, including Orange County in the 2008 public hearing <br /> comments, have stated that State funding assistance to tackle the varied and <br /> costly provisions of meeting the rules is of critical importance. <br /> This assistance could take many forms, in helping to retrofit existing stormwater <br /> controls in some jurisdictions, to acquiring stream buffers and conservation areas <br /> upstream to offset nutrient loading in other areas, to GIS support from the State's <br /> Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, which could provide invaluable <br /> assistance in using aerial photography and other GIS coverages to help establish <br /> the 2001 baseline loading rates and the current 2009 rates. <br /> In order to determine nutrient loading rates Orange County must determine land <br /> use and/or cover types as inputs for the baseline period as well as currently. <br /> Staff has already been investigating utilizing the state's GIS services to obtain <br /> this data. Since there would be a substantial cost to obtain this data, it may be <br /> 13 <br />