Palo Verde Land Fallowing — Metropolitan Water District Paying Farmers to Fallow for Colorado River Supply (California, USA)

From 1992 to 1994 the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) paid farmers in the Palo Verde Valley $620 per fallowed acre per year, fallowing 20,215 acres and saving about 186,000 acre-feet (roughly $135 per acre-foot), stored in Lake Mead for MWD. A 1996 study (Davisson and Kamand) found the programme well received by farmers and community representatives, a slight (~1.3%) reduction in average regional employment, and that farmers spent 93% of payments above fallowing costs on farm investments, purchases and debt repayment.
In 2004 MWD and the Palo Verde Irrigation District agreed a 35-year transfer of up to 120,000 acre-feet a year through fallowing of up to 26,000 acres; a 2023 verification report lists 25,947 acres enrolled, with the programme running to 2040.
Caution: an Arizona State University study (Wright et al.) reportedly found that actual savings were far smaller than MWD's estimates over the period studied, by analysing farmer behaviour on enrolled and non-enrolled fields. A local committee member disputes this in public comments, so the true net saving remains contested. This is a water-supply payment scheme rather than a biodiversity one, and its transferable lesson is the need for independent verification of 'saved' water.

Read the full analysis: https://mountainscholar.org/items/7042a823-6012-458b-bcc0-338255b3f3a4