Water Finance

California voters this November will decide whether to approve the sale of $7.5 billion in bonds to fund water projects in the drought-afflicted state, after the Legislature last month passed and Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a spending package now headed to the ballot.

The Water Council and JPMorgan Chase & Co., have entered into a partnership to bring together North America?s investment community and water technology entrepreneurs to match capital with water innovation.The partnership includes a $225,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase as part of the company?s recently launched Small Business Forward initiative ? a national, five-year, $30 million grant program meant to boost small business support networks that help growing enterprises in specific industries.

On Sept. 24, California water officials released plans for spending almost a third of the $687 million emergency drought relief package approved by lawmakers earlier this year. The State Department of Water Resources plans to make final decisions by Oct. 31.

Last week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee?s Panel on Public-Private Partnerships (P3 Panel) released its final report and recommendations on how to balance the needs of the public and private sector when undertaking P3s to finance U.S. infrastructure.

Ohio-based Contech Engineered Solutions announced that it has acquired the assets of Filterra Bioretention Systems from Americast, Inc.

With a deadline looming to strike a deal on a state water bond, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders earlier this month, floated a roughly $7 billion proposal they insist will help California weather future droughts.

Private water markets in the United States are poised for significant growth, according to a new report from Bluefield Research. Privately-owned water supply networks serve 15 percent of the U.S. population.

Recently, Trimble announced that the Orange County Sanitation District has implemented its Trimble Connect software in combination with Trimble Juno T41 rugged Android mobile devices for automating utility manhole maintenance, mapping and inspection.

Last week, U.S. Senators and Representatives from California and Oregon introduced ?W21: Water in the 21st Century,? legislation that would help communities nationwide better prepare for future water management needs.

As many urgent updates to the United States? infrastructure continue to be derailed by a lack of funding, the use of public-private partnerships, also called P3s or PPPs, is providing a viable path to completion for an increasing number of these projects.