The recent deluge hasn’t put an end to the drought.
California is still way below average. Statewide reservoirs are about 60 percent of where they should be at this time of year, but in one part of the Bay Area, the numbers are way above normal.
The Marin Municipal Water District won’t say the drought is over, but judging by the water running over the spillways on more than half of the county’s reservoirs, there is certainly no sign of it.
Unlike the rest of California, Marin County relies on its reservoirs, and after all the rain, four of the seven are full. Lagunitas, Phoenix, Alpine and Soulajule are all at 100 percent. Nicacio is at 91 percent and Kent is almost at 80 percent.
Systemwide, the Marin reservoirs are at 89 percent of capacity, and the rain keeps coming: 17 inches since the end of November. The average for the entire month of December is 10 inches.
“We’re definitely in better shape than most of the state because so much of the state is dependent on snowpack, and we are more dependent on rainfall,” said the water district’s Libby Pischel.
In fact, 75 percent of the Marin Municipal Water comes from rainfall collected in its reservoirs. Twenty-five percent comes from the Russian River.
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But, if the drought in Marin Is for all practical purposes over, the drought restrictions are not Residents still can’t turn their sprinklers on between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., and they’ll face a fine for using a hose without a shutoff nozzle.
Incidentally, in October, Marin residents cut water use by 21 percent. The statewide average was 6 percent.
