Regional water agencies, especially those serving agricultural districts or small rural communities, are usually the least able to fund water supply infrastructure projects from their own base of customers. Yet without reliable water supplies to these areas, California loses its capacity to grow abundant and affordable food. Water bonds and state budget allocations help but a new source of funding needs to be established. We suggest the following:

1 – A state revolving fund will be set up with the explicit mission to allocate loans to finance the construction of water supply infrastructure in California.

2 – Priority will be given to agricultural districts and small rural communities.

3 – The loans will be low interest and long term, with repayment periods between 30 and 50 years.

4 – The loans would not be permitted to exceed 50 percent of the total project cost.

5 – Money for the state revolving fund will be made available from the Federal Water Infrastructure Financing Innovation Act.

6 – The revolving fund would also be authorized to accept appropriations from the State of California through the budget process or from the federal government through other programs and grants.

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