NMWD is an independent special district that serves about 61,000 customers in the Novato area and portions of rural West Marin.

Novato water comes from three sources, the greatest portion (80%) being supplied from the Russian River by the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA). The SCWA water is collected 60 to 80 feet below the gravel beds adjacent to the Russian River.  The remaining 20% of the supply comes from Stafford Lake. NMWD also operates a 500,000 gallon-per-day Recycled Water Facility at Deer Island, which provides irrigation water to the Stone Tree Golf Course and Novato Fire Protection District Station 2 in Novato. The Deer Island project is a first step to introduce and expand the use of recycled water within the Novato Service Area.

Acqueduct Energy Efficiency Project

The SCWA delivers water via its Petaluma Aqueduct to a storage tank and pump station in southern Sonoma County near Kastania Road. At this point, water is pumped via a 30-inch diameter pipeline owned by the NMWD that runs parallel to and on the west side of Highway 101 from Kastania Road to the NMWD’s Novato Water Distribution System in northern Novato. The pipeline, known as the North Marin Aqueduct (Aqueduct), is approximately 50 years old, 7.1 miles long, and delivers approximately 80% of the water supply needs of the 61,000 residents in the NMWD Novato service area. Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) deliveries of Russian River water are also conveyed through this Aqueduct, which provides approximately 25% of the water supply needs of the 190,000 residents in the MMWD service area. The Aqueduct currently operates near its capacity at approximately 18 million gallons per day.

Portions of the Aqueduct will be relocated as part of the CalTrans Marin-Sonoma Narrows (MSN) High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Widening Project.  The Aqueduct Energy Efficiency Project is a separate action that would increase the diameter of portions of the Aqueduct to eliminate the use of the existing Kastania Pump Station and the resulting energy demand, associated greenhouse gas emissions and costs. The proposed Project is being designed such that the Aqueduct’s rate of flow capacity would not increase compared to existing conditions. If approved, the proposed Project would be implemented at the time that CalTrans constructs the CalTrans MSN Project to increase the size of the Aqueduct in a cost effective manner. The proposed Project also includes construction, in two locations of a parallel pipeline, where CalTrans is not relocating the existing Aqueduct.

NMWD has prepared a Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Impact Report for this proposed project.

2010 Documents and Correspondence

• Marin Conservation League Position on Water Supply and Distribution, adopted by the Board of Directors on November 14, 2010
• October 26, 2010, MCL Letter to NMWD on the Acqueduct Energy Efficiency Project DEIR