Drought actions mulled
Water suppliers consider mandatory restrictions
Following two dry winters in a row, the state and Marin County water agencies plan to take more drastic actions in the coming weeks in the face of what could be the second prolonged drought in a decade.
With rain levels at record lows in some areas, stirring thoughts of the 1976-1977 drought, Marin water suppliers plan to decide next month whether to enact mandatory conservation orders similar to those of the five-year drought in 2013-2017.
The Marin Municipal Water District, which serves 191,000 residents in central and southern Marin, plans to meet on April 6 to discuss potential mandatory restrictions. Options that could be considered later that month include limiting outdoor irrigation to one day per week; prohibiting people from refilling pools and hot tubs; and prohibiting people from washing their cars using potable water.
“We have already started the discussion of mandatory restrictions and what that might look like during our recent board meetings,” said Jeanne Mariani-Belding, a district spokeswoman. “We plan to continue that discussion during our upcoming April board meetings as well, but there is no set date for board action.”
Only 20 inches of rain fell at the district’s Lagunitas Lake reservoir from July 1 through Wednesday, compared with the 45 inches it normally would receive by this time of year. The district receives 75% of its supply from its seven local reservoirs in the Mount Tamalpais watershed and the other 25% from Sonoma Water.
Whether it adopts voluntary or mandatory conservation orders, the district could also implement emergency water rates to cover revenue losses. This would include a 10% rate increase under voluntary measures to up to a 25% rate hike under mandatory orders. The district forecasts it would lose about $12.5 million under voluntary conservation measures or up to $20.5 million under a 40% mandatory conservation order.
The North Marin Water District, which serves about 61,000 people in the Novato area, also plans to consider mandatory restrictions next month, including restricting outdoor irrigation, suspending new water connections and setting mandatory conservation targets. The district has recorded about 8 inches of water at its Stafford Lake reservoir, which is the lowest amount on record dating to 1916.
Stafford Lake supplies about 25% of the district’s supply, with the other 75% coming from Sonoma Water. Stafford Lake was at about 42% capacity as of this week, according to district data.
The district’s 1,800 customers in West Marin have been under conservation orders
since April 2020.
About 90% of the state, including most of Marin County, was in at least a mild drought as of last week, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor data.
In a sign of the dire situation of the state’s water supply, the California Water Resources Control Board announced this week that it will halve the requested water allocations to cities, farmers and other water users in the Bay Area, Central Valley and Southern California served by the State Water Project. The change does not affect Marin County water supplies, which primarily consist of rainfall in local reservoirs.
It’s unclear whether the California State Water Board will implement mandatory conservation targets for water suppliers similar to the 2013-2017 drought. Typically, the state and
other water agencies wait until April to consider any conservation orders.
“Right now, we’re watching hydrology to determine the next steps,” State Water Board spokesperson Ailene Voisin said Wednesday.
Smaller water districts such as Bolinas Community Public Utility District have already taken more drastic action.
Last month, the district approved what is believed to be the first water rationing measures in the Bay Area in response to the recent dry conditions. The district’s customers would be required to limit water use to 125 gallons per day if they collectively use an average of 76,000 gallons of water per day in a seven-day period.
The latest data from March 16 through Monday show that residents have met the district’s conservation goals and were using an average of 51,776 gallons
per day.
The district last enacted mandatory rationing in 2009 but rescinded it only a few weeks later following a deluge of 10 inches of rain.
So far the district has only received about 16 inches of rainfall, which is less than half of its annual rainfall, said Jennifer Blackman, the district general manager. The district serves about 1,600 Bolinas residents using water from Arroyo Hondo Creek and two small reservoirs, which district staff said would face being depleted as early as this summer without conservation measures.
“We are encouraging all of our customers to keep up their good work and resist any temptation to increase water use as we head into the typically dry months of the year,” Blackman said. “Every drop saved today renders us more resilient tomorrow.”