The Levers Lab
Salton Sea
Environmental and Agricultural Water Use
The Salton Sea is critical habitat for migratory, threatened, and endangered species and receives its water from agricultural runoff. Over time, more and more water has been transferred from agricultural water use to urban use. These transfers have resulted in the Salton Sea declining in water volume and quality. We have performed a body of work examining the purchasing of water from irrigated agriculture and the importation of water from out of the region. We have found that water lease programs are capable of generating significant environmental water flows with relatively small decreases in agricultural production and no appreciable decrease in grower profits. Water importation from out of region is not a viable solution. These have been used by the State of California to inform Salton Sea policy.
​
Collaborators: Lucia Levers, Kallan Ritzman, Kurt Schwabe, Todd Skaggs
Habitat Restoration
A hydro-economic programming model aims to develop promising management of the Salton Sea and surrounding wetlands through mitigation efforts and restoration projects to ensure continued agricultural and ecological productivity and protect public health.
​
Media: Buying water for the environment: A hydro-economic analysis of Salton Sea inflows, As Salton Sea faces ecological collapse, a plan to save it with ocean water is rejected
Collaborators: Hoori Ajami, Lucia Levers, Kurt Schwabe, Juan Sebastian Acero Triana, Yiqing Yao
Funding Agency: Lucia Levers