Marin County Renews Call for Conservation as Dry Winter Drags On
SAN RAFAEL (KPIX) -- Most of the Bay Area remains in a severe drought and the outlook for rain in the near future isn't looking good.
In Marin County, there was so much rainfall last year that some of the water-use limits and penalties were lifted last month. But, following a bone-dry January, it's clear that conservation is still key.
Storms last October and December brought a total of 43 inches of rainfall to parts of Marin County. That rain moved local reservoirs out of historic low levels to near full capacity.
"We are grateful for what we got because now that we are seeing this very different situation. We know that this can put us in another in a another potential dry situation where we are looking at another water shortage in 2023," said Adriane Mertens with the Marin Water District.
Mertens says that with what's in the reservoirs, there is plenty of supply for this year even if the area doesn't see any more significant rain. The concern is for 2023 and beyond.
"We know that we are not out of the woods. Even with that rain we saw we know that the unpredictability of climate change is with us for the long haul," Mertens added.
While the water district rolled back some of the water-use limits and penalties, some residents say it hasn't changed their water-use habits.
"We've been on a heightened alert for a while," said Scott Thorpe, a Marin resident. "We do what we can do to conserve."
Many of the residents say a lack of rainfall the past few years and the dry start to the 2022 has reinforced their perception that the drought is here to stay.
"We've been through it a number of years and I think we all need to do our part to keep on conserving until we get into a better pattern but that pattern seems to be consistently not enough water year to year," Thorpe said.
Marin Water says it is looking at long-term strategies to be more drought resilient -- not just focusing on conservation but improving how it monitors supply and how that supply can be supplemented.
