On June 16 the MMWD Board of Directors adopted operating and capital budgets for the 2015/16 fiscal year (FY) that are lower than the budgets for the 2014/15 fiscal year, which ends June 30. The FY 2016 operating budget of $66.8 million shows a 2.3% decrease, while the capital budget of $28 million is down by 12.9%.

The lower expenditures reflect the drop in water sales and revenue resulting from customers' successful conservation efforts. While conservation is essential to preserving our limited water supply, the fluctuation in water sales is a challenge for the district since most of our expenses are fixed. MMWD must maintain more than 900 miles of pipe, numerous storage tanks, and pump stations regardless of the volume of water flowing through them.

Because MMWD operates on a two-year budget cycle, the board also adopted the 2016/17 FY operating and capital budgets. Both are slightly higher and therefore assume an improved revenue picture next year. The two-year budget is available online. 

• Interested in a vegetable garden but have limited space? Try gardening in a bag! And remember that the three-day-a-week watering restriction applies to turf and ornamental plants, not vegetable (or fruit) gardens. Read on to learn more about gardening in a bag. 
• MMWD takes multiple approaches when it comes to watershed management and wildfires. We work to reduce fuel loads on Mt. Tamalpais, but we also train to fight fires. Read this post to learn about one of our summer 2015 projects to reduce fuel loads and read this post to learn about a recent fire training exercise. More photos of the exercise are on our Facebook page.
• Our current toilet and clothes washer rebate program is coming to an end on June 30, but the good news is a new program starts July 1. Read on for more details.