Marin Water Lifts Some Outdoor Use Restrictions

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Marin’s largest water agency is lifting some outdoor use restrictions.

The Marin Municipal Water District on Thursday announced plans to lift its irrigation prohibition.

The agency will allow customers to use sprinklers or drip irrigation for yard care up to twice a week between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.

All other water-use restrictions remain in effect including swimming pool filling, at-home car washing, and the prohibition on any landscape installations for new customer water connections.

The irrigation prohibition was approved in October and went into effect Dec. 1, along with other water-use limits and restrictions.

The MMWD serves central and southern Marin and provides water to around 190,000 residents.

The mandate followed historic drought conditions last summer that triggered drastic measures as the county’s water supply reached critically low levels before record rains in October and December restocked local reservoirs to near-full capacity.

“The board has taken incremental steps to ease some of the drought emergency water limits and restrictions since that time – first removing indoor household water-use limits and associated penalties in January and now addressing the outdoor irrigation restriction originally scheduled to remain in effect through May 2022,” the agency said in a statement.

The MMWD will consider lifting additional drought emergency restrictions at a date to be determined, the agency said.

“Our community has done remarkable work to save water during the drought emergency, and we want to keep that momentum going as outdoor irrigation is allowed to resume,” President Larry Russell said.

“Some of the most impactful ways to reduce water waste can be achieved outside, and we invite customers to lean on the district’s resources for extra help with water-conscious planning and maintenance of home landscape and garden projects.”

The MMWD said it will shift efforts to long-term drought resiliency planning.

The board earlier this month approved the implementation of a five-month strategic assessment of various water supply projects that will supplement community needs in future shortages.