Dr. Gerald (Jerry) Meral is the director of the California Water Program at the Natural Heritage Institute. He works on funding for California water, Delta infrastructure, and a variety of other California water programs. He formerly served as Deputy Director of the California Department of Water Resources, Deputy Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation Director, and Staff Scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. He has placed 9 initiatives on the California statewide ballot, and has been involved in many statewide ballot measures affecting California water, parks, wildlife, health, and transportation. He has a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of California, Berkeley. He serves as the campaign director of the Water Supply and Water Quality Initiative Bond Act of November 2018 campaign.