Uncategorized Archives - North Marin Water District

(Posted May 16, 2022)

The District proposes rate increases for the West Marin Water service area for fiscal year 2022-2023. If approved at the public hearing on June 28, 2022, the new rates will go into effect on July 1, 2022.

For more details about the public hearing and the proposed rate increases see the links below.

The key reasons that a 6% rate increase is needed are described below:

Continued investment in water facilities. The District must continue to make investments in facility upgrades and replacements that will benefit the West Marin Water System’s fire protection, water supply, and aging infrastructure. This will help to properly maintain the service area’s treatment plant, 26 miles of pipeline, 7 pump stations, 13 tanks, 3 wells, 168 hydrants, monitoring systems, and more.
Impact of inflation on all costs. The proposed revenue increase is designed to meet all the costs of providing water service. This includes purchasing, treating, and delivering safe, high-quality, reliable water to your home or business without fail, every day and around the clock.

More Information About Proposed Rate Changes

(Posted May 9, 2022) On March 4, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-6-22 (EO) regarding sanctions in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine. The EO is located at https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/3.4.22-Russia-Ukraine-Executive-Order.pdf.

This serves as a notice under the EO that as a contractor working under a state-funded project, compliance with the economic sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine is required, including with respect to, but not limited to, the federal executive orders identified in the EO and the sanctions identified on the U.S. Department of the Treasury website (https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/sanctions-programs-and-country-information/ukraine-russia-related-sanctions). Failure to comply may result in the termination of contracts or grants, as applicable.

(Updated May 11, 2022)

The District proposes rate increases for the Novato service area for fiscal year 2022-2023. If approved at the public hearing on June 28, 2022, the new rates will go into effect on July 1, 2022.

A notification was sent out in this week’s mail to announce a proposed 6% rate increase to your water rates and invite customers to participate in the related public hearing originally scheduled for June 21, 2022.

The notification was intended to reach each customer individually but due to a printing error, you may have received a notice (or multiple notices) in this week’s mail addressed to other customers. This in no way compromised your account with North Marin Water District nor did it create any account issues with your associated property.

Due to this printing error, the virtual public hearing has been rescheduled to a later date on June 28, 2022 at 6 pm and you will be receiving an updated notification via USPS early next week. To attend the public hearing customers can participate via Zoom at:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82191971947

Meeting ID: 821 9197 1947

Password: 466521

For more details about the public hearing and the proposed rate increases see the links below.

The key reasons that a 6% rate increase is needed are described below:

Increased investment in water facilities. The District must continue to invest in facility upgrades and replacements with an approximate cost of $4 million per year. These investments benefit the system’s fire protection, water supply and aging infrastructure and help to address the need to properly maintain the District’s $132 million system of pipelines, pumps, reservoirs, treatment plants, valves, hydrants, laboratory, monitoring systems, buildings and more.
Rising costs to purchase imported water. The District typically imports 75% of its water from Sonoma County Water Agency. The cost of purchasing imported water accounts for 30% of the budget and the water supplier has forecast that the costs will continue to increase by 6% every year.
Impact of inflation on all costs. The proposed revenue increase is designed to meet all the costs of providing water service. This includes purchasing, treating, and delivering safe, high-quality, reliable water to your home or business without fail, every day and around the clock.

More Information About Proposed Rate Changes

(Updated April 28, 2022) North Marin Water District held a second New Water Supplies workshop on April 26, 2022 at 6:00pm

The District has been working with an engineering consultant with expertise in water supply alternatives, West Yost, to carry out a Local Water Supply Enhancement Study. The Study has considered numerous options to develop new local water sources, with the goal of ensuring that the North Marin Water District has a solid, resilient strategy for sustainable water supply, to minimize the impacts of future droughts.

These potential new water sources were presented to the Board and reviewed at a public workshop with customers on January 25, 2022. Ideas included expanding water recycling, adding desalination, capturing and storing stormwater, increasing Stafford Lake’s capacity, and storing water in underground basins in wet years and to save for use in dry years.

The workshop on April 26, 2022 provided a recap and summary of the potential new water sources, and consultants and staff presented the draft report with findings and recommendations in order to gain public feedback. The draft report is available here: Local Water Supply Enhancement Study – Public Review Draft – April 2022 Compressed . Some of the supply options which are not necessarily feasible for local supply enhancement are possible through collaboration and partnership with other agencies at a regional level, which the workshop will explore.

If you have any comments or feedback on the Local Water Supply Enhancement Study, please send to Tony Williams (twilliams@nmwd.com) by May 6, 2022.

(Updated April 5, 2022) NMWD’s Residential Recycled Water Pick-Up Program is back for the 2022 drought. This program provides clean, safe, tertiary-treated recycled water to residential customers to pick up at a select location and time to be used for hand-watering of outdoor plants. There is an annual application fee of $75 (good through the end of the season in 2022). For more information see the Residential Recycled Water Fill Station section on the Recycled Water Page here.

The Recycled Water Fill Station will be open on Fridays from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. beginning on April 15^th (Changes or closures will be announced on this web page, so please check back weekly prior to arriving at the fill station).

(Posted March 8, 2022) The US Environmental Protection Society’s annual Fix-A-Leak Week is March 14-20, and we’ve worked with our partners at Sonoma Marin Water Saving Partnership to compile a list of quick and easy steps you can take to save water in your household.

There are several ways to check whether you have a leak, and most household leaks are simple to fix. Things such as rundown toilet flappers (the part that seals the opening between the tank and the toilet bowl), leaky faucets, and dripping showerheads all are easy to correct and can save you money on your utility bill and help save water during the drought.

Did you know that nearly 1 trillion gallons of water could be saved each year in U.S. homes if everyone fixed their water leaks? Check out some of our helpful tips and resources to get you started.

Check your water bills
Fix your faucets
Track your water usage online
Test your toilets
Review our 10-minute fix-a-leak checklist Detect and Chase Down Leaks Checklist or Detect and Chase Down Leaks Checklist – Spanish

For more resources on dealing with leaks, check out the EPA’s Fix-A-Leak website. If you are replacing household fixtures or appliances, look out for the ‘WaterSense’ label when purchasing new products. A WaterSense labeled product is proven to have better performance levels as well as use at least 20 percent less water. Thank you for doing your part to fix things up and conserve water during Fix-A-Leak Week!