Bio-economic Modeling in Water Resources

Lucia Levers, Research Associate, Water Resources Center at the University of Minnesota

Bio-economics, the combination of natural science and socio-economic data and methods, can be used to address a number of issues in the water resources field.  Two applications will be discussed.  The first is identifying potential water transfers from agricultural to environmental uses in the Salton Sea Region of California, in order to increase environmental quality and reduce costs.  The second is more local--determining economic triggers to induce land use change from traditional row crops to more environmentally friendly species in Minnesota with the goal of reducing nitrogen and sediment flows into the Mississippi.