Water Supply Challenges in Marin

The Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) and the North Marin Water District (NMWD) are faced with planning not only how to address the shortfalls in water supply that the county has been experiencing eight of the past ten years, but also how to meet the additional demands from a growing population. These challenges are exacerbated by the fact that many residents have already incorporated conservation measures into their daily routines (and thus have less opportunity to conserve) and by the fact that a true drought would leave the entire region scrambling for water (making it more difficult for Marin to access additional water from Sonoma County). In addition, the water agencies have a mandate to supply water to their respective areas, including whatever new development occurs within those areas. If they fail to do so, they can be sued.

An additional setback occurred in September 2009, when the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) dropped its 20-year effort to upgrade distribution pipelines. It also gave up its water-rights application to the State Water Resources Board to acquire an additional 26,000 acre-feet from Lake Sonoma each year. SCWA’s board decided that it would simply be too costly ($600 million to $1 billion) to make those improvements.

SCWA’s decisions greatly impact the North Marin Water District, which gets 80% of its water from SCWA, and Marin Municipal Water District, which gets 20-25% of its water from SCWA.

Numerous strategies to overcome the county’s water supply challenges are being considered by Marin’s water districts and there is a great deal of community interest and involvement in trying to determine which will proceed. The most controversial is desalination. On August 19, 2009, the MMWD board voted unanimously to approve a 5-million-gallon-per-day desalination facility. The plant could be expanded to 15 million gallons per day, if necessary. However, before actually building a desal plant, permits, design, issuance of debt, and construction contracts would all be subject to public review and comment. Desal is one of several options for future water supply that are still being pursued.

League members attend meetings and workshops of both water districts. If you’re interested in how Marin will secure its water supply for the future, please join us!