Marin wins at water conservation

Marin Municipal Water District customers are conserving water more than the statewide average and the levels of the district’s reservoirs are higher than other parts of the state, a district spokeswoman said today.

The MMWD’s 186,000 customers reduced their water consumption 18.5 percent between October 2013 and this October, while statewide consumption dropped only 6.7 percent during that time, district spokeswoman Libby Pischel said.

The district’s customers reduced water use 21.5 percent between November 2013 and last month, Pischel said.

The water conservation and recent heavy rains brought the water storage level of the district’s seven reservoirs to 52,489 acre-feet, or 66 percent of capacity.

The district’s average at this time of year is 65 percent, Pischel said.

Rainfall totals for the current rainfall year are above average. Between July 1 and Dec. 4, the district’s 147-square-mile watershed in south and central Marin County received 12.85 inches of rain, while the average during that time is 10.48 inches, Pischel said.

Nearly seven inches of rain has fallen since Nov. 28, compared to 2.6 inches after Nov. 28, 2013, Pischel said.

In a statement, MMWD board president Armando Quintero said the organization is proud of and grateful for their customers’ response:

 “Our customers have proven, once again, that they understand the importance of their role and they take it to heart.”

Seventy-five percent of the MMWD’s water supply is the rainfall captured in its seven reservoirs and 25 percent is imported from the Russian River through an agreement with the Sonoma County Water Agency.

The MMWD’s operating budget for the current fiscal year is $79.1 million.