blog post Water Marketing That Helps Nature By Ellen Hanak, Jelena Jezdimirovic Sep 13, 2016 Unleashing the potential of water trading could improve conditions California’s struggling rivers and wetlands.
blog post Drinking Water Quality: Perceptions and Challenges By David Kordus, Henry McCann Sep 6, 2016 A majority of Californians think drinking water pollution is a more serious health threat in lower-income areas than in other parts of their regions. There is evidence to support this view.
blog post How Is California Spending the Water Bond? By Ellen Hanak, Jelena Jezdimirovic Jun 16, 2016 California voters passed a $7.5 billion water bond almost two years ago. How is the state spending these funds?
blog post Testimony: Addressing California’s Growing Flood Risk By Ellen Hanak Jan 14, 2015 As a reminder that California is never more than one big storm away from flood problems—even when reeling from drought—the topic of an Assembly committee hearing yesterday was flood management.
Report Higher Education in California: Institutional Costs By Hans Johnson, Patrick Murphy, Margaret Weston, Kevin Cook Nov 12, 2014 Over the past 20 years, in-state tuition at both the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU) has more than tripled. These tuition increases have led many to believe that spending in the state’s public higher education systems is out of control. However, a closer look reveals that institutional expenditures in the two systems—including faculty salaries and benefits, the largest budget category—have not increased significantly. Our evaluation of both revenues and expenditures shows that recent tuition increases have been driven by dramatic reductions in state subsidies to UC and CSU. In the past, General Fund contributions covered the majority of educational costs. Today, students (often with help from federal, state, institutional, and private grants) pay most of these costs through tuition and associated fees. Better budget data could help policymakers monitor costs and align higher education funding with state goals. But it is clear that tuition at California’s public universities has risen much more rapidly than the cost of providing higher education.
blog post Local Water Funding in the June Primaries By Ellen Hanak, Emma Freeman Jun 18, 2014 Results of the June primary illustrate the challenges in the way California funds critical water services.
