Corte Madera, CA April 2015

The Inside Source is produced by Marin Municipal Water District to inform local decision makers and opinion leaders on issues affecting Marin's water, people, and environment.

Features

New Drought Regulations in Effect

MMWD Receives Large State Grant for Habitat Work

Current Blog Posts

Spread the Word

MMWD Board of Directors

Jack Gibson

President

Cynthia Koehler

Vice President

Larry Bragman
Armando Quintero
Larry Russell

Regular meetings of the MMWD Board of Directors are held at 7:30 pm the first and third Tuesday of each month unless otherwise noticed in the District Board Room, 220 Nellen Avenue, Corte Madera. Additional meetings are scheduled as needed. All board meetings are open to the public.
(415) 945-1455

Krishna Kumar
General Manager

Upcoming Public Meetings

Tues., May 19, 7:30 p.m.

BOARD MEETING

Board Room

NEW: DAILY WEB UPDATES ON RESERVOIR LEVELS

Reservoir levels, water use, and rainfall figures are now updated daily instead of weekly on MMWD's website. In addition, we have added the following new data fields: water supply source (reservoirs and Russian River), creek releases, and temperature.

Visit our Water Watch page for the latest updates.

Here are today's water statistics:

Reservoir Levels - As of April 28, reservoir storage is 72,999 acre-feet,* or 92% of capacity. The average for this date is 72,152 acre-feet, or 91% of capacity.
Rainfall - Rainfall this year to date (July 1, 2014 - April 27, 2015) is 39.62 inches. Average for the same period is 50.20 inches; last year on this date we had 33.22 inches.
Water Use - Water use for the week of April 21-27 averaged 19.67 million gallons per day, down from 20.07 million gallons per day for the same week last year.
Creek Releases - During the month of March 2015 MMWD released 616 million gallons, or 1,890 acre-feet, into Lagunitas and Walker creeks in west Marin for habitat enhancement.

*One acre-foot is 325,851 gallons

NEW STATE WATER USE REGULATIONS ANNOUNCED

The State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) recently announced draft emergency conservation regulations to implement Governor Brown's Executive Order calling for a statewide 25% reduction in water use. This cutback mirrors MMWD's current request for a reduction of 25% passed by MMWD's Board of Directors in January 2014 and still in effect.

For the period June 2015 through February 2016, however, the State Board draft regulations specifically request MMWD to reduce water use by 20% compared to 2013. The 20% figure is based on customers' effective efforts to conserve water in 2014. This new target for June 2015 through February 2016, if confirmed by the State Board, will be sent to the MMWD Board of Directors for formal adoption at the May 19 board meeting.

In the meantime, MMWD asks all customers to continue their conservation efforts and to note the specific water use prohibitions listed here.

Prohibited Water Uses Effective April 7, 2015

1. Irrigating between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., except for system testing & repair;
2. Irrigating ornamental landscape areas or turf areas more than three days per week;
3. Irrigating ornamental landscape areas or turf areas during & 48 hours after rainfall;
4. Using a hose without a shut-off nozzle;
5. Allowing irrigation water to run off or overspray the irrigated area;
6. Hosing down sidewalks, driveways, & other hard-surfaced areas;
7. Using non-recirculating decorative fountains.

Thank you for conserving! For more information visit marinwater.org/drought.

MMWD OFFERS CONSERVATION DEVICES, DOLLARS, AND ADVICE

MMWD of

fers a variety of programs designed to help customers save water, including free on-site water use consultations, rebates on water-saving products, and much more. For more information visit marinwater.org/conserve.

Every drop we save is another drop in our reservoirs available for future use.

MMWD GETS $448,565 IN STATE GRANTS FOR LAGUNITAS CREEK HABITAT ENHANCEMENT

MMWD has been awarded $448,565 in grant funding from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for a three-year project that will increase the winter habitat carrying capacity for coho salmon and steelhead trout in Lagunitas Creek in West Marin. Both fish species are on the endangered species list. MMWD will contribute an additional $63,882 for a total project cost of $512,447.

Environmental review for this project will begin in 2015 with project construction scheduled for next summer through the summer of 2018. MMWD will conduct pre-construction monitoring and then five years of post-construction monitoring to document project site conditions and effectiveness.

In partnership with MMWD, the National Park Service will be conducting complementary habitat enhancement work on Lagunitas Creek. The National Park Service has secured funding for winter habitat enhancement for endangered coho salmon.

For more information on MMWD's fisheries program, visit our website.

NEW BLOG POSTS

MMWD blogger Charlene Burgi celebrates Earth Day 2015 by reminding us what we may already know... but don't always do. Read on for her tips.
MMWD field employees are experts at tapping a water pipe to make repairs, but they don't always receive recognition for it. They did get to demonstrate their skills recently at the regional meeting of the American Water Works Association (AWWA). Here is MMWD's team doing a practice run in preparation for the AWWA event.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

We welcome your comments and need your help raising awareness about water in Marin. Please share this information with your colleagues and constituents. Thank you.

Libby Pischel, Public Information Officer
Marin Municipal Water District
lpischel@marinwater.org
(415) 945-1421