"Financing Water Projects" by the California Legislative Analyst's Office is our site of the day

Yesterday, witnesses from the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) presented a slide show with charts and bullet points in the Assembly Special Water Committee hearing to give the committee members some idea of the cost of various proposals and how prior water bonds other measures dealing with California's natural resources have been financed . The LAO is a fiercely independent body and while the significance of its numbers can be debated, is widely respected for its integrity.

You can read a 13 page version of this report, "Financing Water Projects" and in a few minutes get an overview of what is being talked about in Sacramento.

Topics addressed with bits and bites of information and charts include:

• Prior resources and water bonds

• A summary of the major provisions of special session water bonds being proposed

• What does our state's infrastructure debt cost us each year?

• The impact of proposed water bonds on debt-service ratios.

• The key financial issues and approaches.

• What types of bonds does the state sell?

• A history of financing water projects: state, local, and federal.

Well worth a look so we're talking from the same page.