Construction and Infrastructure

Marin Water is proud of its rich history as California’s first municipal water district, established in 1912. With that distinction, comes the responsibility to address our aging infrastructure, modernize our system facilities and technologies, and implement projects that strengthen our system’s resiliency to droughts and other natural disasters. Through these capital efforts, the District’s legacy of delivering high-quality drinking water will continue for many generations to come.

About the Capital Improvement Program

The District’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) ensures continuous focus on upgrading our infrastructure and functions as a tool for planning and programming investments into every component of the District’s water system, including but not limited to:

Projects that support our water supply reliability
Replacement of aging and leak-prone pipelines and storage tanks
Improvements to dam spillways and our treatment plants
Fire hardening of pump stations and other critical facilities

Funding for Capital Improvements and Watershed Maintenance and Protection

Every Marin Water customer bill includes a fixed fee for Capital Maintenance and a uniform, volumetric rate fee for Watershed Management to help fund these critical needs and improvements for our water system. The District also pursues competitive state and federal grant opportunities, when possible, to supplement funding needs.

Fire Flow Program

“Fire flow” is the term firefighters use to describe how much water can be delivered by a water system through one or more hydrants to fight a fire at a specific location.

A first-ever master plan for making fire flow improvements began following voter approval in 1996. Voters agreed to pay an annual $75 fire flow fee on their property tax bills to provide additional water flow for fighting fires and to help ensure the integrity of our water transmission system following a major earthquake.

In place through 2031, the fee pays for water system improvements, including replacing aging pipes and seismic stabilization/retrofits at pump stations and pipe bridges. (Review exemptions for the fire flow fee).

Marin Water’s Fire Flow Improvements Program brings together the District and local fire agencies to identify fire flow projects that are then implemented to improve the capacity of water supply to hydrants for fire-fighting operations. The District reports regularly to city and county elected officials on the progress of these efforts.