Watt Carbon Project

The Watt Carbon Project is a soil carbon sequestration project located in the Moira Shire of northern Victoria, approximately 7km south of the town of Nathalia. Registered in November 2020, the project covers an area of roughly 180 hectares. The region is part of the Goulburn Valley, a significant agricultural zone known for its flat plains utilized extensively for grazing, dairying, and cropping, often supported by irrigation infrastructure.

The project operates under the 2018 Soil Carbon methodology, which incentivizes landholders to store carbon in their soil profile through improved farming practices. To generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), the project must demonstrate a measured increase in soil organic carbon over time compared to a baseline. Specific activities for the Watt Carbon Project include re-establishing or rejuvenating pastures through seeding and implementing changes to grazing management, such as altering the stocking rate, duration, or intensity to promote vegetation cover and soil health.

The environment in the Nathalia region is characterized by a semi-arid to temperate climate with an annual rainfall average of approximately 450mm to 500mm. The soils in this area are typically Red-brown earths (Chromosols) or Sodosols, loam to clay-loam topsoils overlying heavier clay subsoils. These soils are productive but can be prone to compaction, making the project's focus on deep-rooted pastures and controlled grazing particularly beneficial for improving soil structure and water infiltration.

This project is managed by Agriprove Solutions, a prominent developer in the Australian soil carbon sector. While many soil carbon projects are aggregated, this project appears to be a single-property undertaking, likely named after the landholder. By shifting to time-controlled grazing and improving pasture density, the project aims to sequester carbon while simultaneously boosting the productivity and resilience of the farming system against the region's variable rainfall.