THE DROUGHT AND HOUSING:  A BAN ON NEW WATER HOOKUPS??

At its June 1st meeting, the Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) Board of Directors considered banning all new water hookups due to the historic drought facing California and the west.  While acknowledging that pending new construction projects would account for just 0.1% of the District’s current annual water use, many board members still felt the situation was dire enough to consider a moratorium as part of a broader strategy to conserve water.

Almost two dozen speakers protested this proposed ban. A number of speakers asked that MMWD exempt affordable housing (the water district has already proposed exempting accessory dwelling units). MEHC’s Linda Jackson noted that MMWD’s moratorium on new water hookups– in place for nine of the last 50 years– has caused irreparable damage to housing equity in Marin. The MMWD Board is unlikely to take this issue up again until assessing supplies midway through the rainy season this winter. The Board did seem sympathetic to an exemption for affordable housing. See MEHC’s letter to the Marin IJ, and MEHC Board member Linda Jackson and other housing advocates comments on this issue in a recent Marin IJ article>>