MMWD must be aware as housing plan progresses

I am retired after a 40-year career with the San Francisco Water Department. During my time, I cut fire trails, read meters, worked as a water inspector and, finally, worked as a project manager of a revenue recovery project.

Right now, the state's Regional Housing Numbers Assessment

mandate for increased housing in response to a supposed housing shortage in California is largely in contrast with the idea of local control. With Marin's required numbers having doubled over the previous eight years to 14,000 living units, the next state assessment for Marin could increase to 28,000 units in 2031. Will it jump to 56,000 in 2039 and 112,000 by 2047?

If I were a member of the Marin Municipal Water District Board of Directors, I would first call for an environmental impact report of MMWD to determine the state of its system. I would want to know if the system could supply an additional 112,000 units by 2047.

It should be noted that the state is adding more and more housing bills without impact fees. Therefore, the environmental report would also have to deal with the effects of increased residences being added without any impact fees and whether those fees would have to be made up by the customer base.

MMWD should consider new water sources and conservation methods, including:

• Desalination (at 20 million gallons per day) which could cost about $520 million.

• Blending the 20 million gallons of tertiary treated wastewater with the freshwater product in the reservoirs.

• Wireless meter reading as a means of proactively taking care of leaks on the customers' end of the service.

Finally, I would call upon the Marin Civil Grand Jury for a study involving the impact to the MMWD of state housing requirements.

— Rick Johnson, Novato