TIS bnr green water
Corte Madera, CA                                                                                                        August 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 Long-Range Plan Begins
MMWD and Firefighters Team up to Save Water
New 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


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Upcoming Public Meetings
 
Tues., Aug. 18, 7:30 p.m. 
BOARD MEETING 
Board Room
 
Tues., Sept. 1, 7:30 p.m. 
BOARD MEETING 
Board Room
 
Tues., Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m. 
BOARD MEETING 
Board Room
CURRENT WATER WATCH UPDATES
Summer water use continues to stay below average, and did so even during the two heat waves we experienced in July. Our thanks go to all MMWD customers for heeding the call to conserve water this year.

Visit our Water Watch page for daily water use updates and our Drought Information page for drought news. 
 
Here are the latest water statistics:
  • Reservoir Levels - As of August 12, reservoir storage is 62,512 acre-feet,* or 79% of capacity. The average for this date is 60,625 acre-feet, or 76% of capacity.   
  • Rainfall - Rainfall this year to date (July 1 - August 12, 2015) is 0.06 inches. Average for the same period is 0.09 inches; last year on this date we had 0.04 inches.
  • Water Use - Water use for the week ending August 12 averaged 24.45 million gallons per day, down from 27.21 million gallons per day for the same week last year.
  • Creek Releases - During the month of June 2015 MMWD released 306 million gallons, or 938 acre-feet, into Lagunitas and Walker creeks in west Marin for habitat enhancement.  
*One acre-foot is 325,851 gallons
JULY WATER USE AGAIN BEATS STATE STANDARD
MMWD customers continue to do an excellent job conserving water, with July marking the second consecutive month we surpassed state conservation standards. MMWD's conservation goal for June 2015 through February 2016 is a 20% reduction in water use compared to 2013. In July our customers achieved a 23% savings; our June savings was 26%. Our cumulative savings to date is 24.4%, again surpassing our cumulative goal of 20%. Thank you, and keep up the good work!

Visit our Drought Information page for monthly updates.


Month
2013 Water Production
 (AF)*
2015/16 Water Production
 (AF)*  
Savings Achieved
(Goal: 20%)
Cumulative
 Savings
 (Goal: 20%)

June
2,836 AF
2,108 AF
26%
26%
July
2,977 AF
2,287 AF
23%
24.4%

*One AF, or acre-foot, is 325,851 gallons 
MMWD BEGINNING DEVELOPMENT OF NEW URBAN WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN
At the July 21 board meeting the MMWD Board of Directors authorized the district to proceed with the development of the district's 2015 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). California law requires every large water provider to write a new UWMP every five years to assess the reliability of its water resources over a 20-year planning horizon.

Such a plan supports MMWD's own long-term resource planning to ensure adequate water supplies are available to meet existing and future water demands. The UWMP will also include a progress report on the district's progress on reaching a 20% reduction in per-capita water consumption by the year 2020, as required by legislation passed in 2009. The new UWMP is due to the California Department of Water Resources on July 1, 2016. Once a draft of the plan is ready, MMWD will make it available for public comment.

At the same meeting the board authorized the district to proceed with a longer term (25-year) study to define efforts needed to enhance water supply resiliency to better withstand climate change, extended droughts, seismic events, and other unforeseen circumstances. That plan will also go through a public review process.

Background information on the UWMP and a link to MMWD's 2010 plan are available online.
PURCHASE OF FIRE ENGINEER PUMP TRAINING SIMULATOR WILL SAVE WATER
In the 2015/16 fiscal year MMWD will purchase a fire engineer pump training simulator to allow local firefighters to continue this important training while using less water. Traditional training methods use large volumes of water, so this type of training has been curtailed due to the drought. Fire engineer pump training helps firefighters shave valuable seconds off fire response time by giving them "real time" experience handling problems like hose rupture, loss of water pressure, and flow changes. The simulator allows them to recognize and adapt to these real life scenarios and respond accordingly.
 
MMWD consults with the Marin County Fire Chiefs' Association annually to set priorities for a $150,000 dedicated fire flow improvement fund to cover discrete projects like the installation or replacement of individual fire hydrants, new pipelines, or replacement pipelines. Because of the drought, this year the association requested that MMWD use $73,000 of the annual fund for the purchase of the simulator to allow fire fighters to continue to conduct this essential training for new recruits and engineers without wasting water. 

The new simulator will save nearly 150,000 gallons of water per training day compared to traditional methods of pumper training.

This item was approved at the July 21 board meeting. 
NEW BLOG POSTS
  • Don't be fooled by a phony utility worker. Read on for home safety tips.
  • Our thanks to San Rafael resident Lonner Holden, who was willing to share his water conservation story with MMWD. Read on for inspiration and write your own conservation success story! 
  • While indoor toilets have been around for a long time (thank goodness), the technology behind them continues to evolve. Read on to learn more about the new water-saving models now available. Interested in a new one? We have a rebate for that. 
  • Drought conditions can force us th reassess and prioritize our landscaping. Read on for tips from MMWD retiree Charlene Burgi.
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