Point Reyes Light - October 31, 2002

North Marin settles environmental lawsuit

By Dave Mitchell

North Marin Water District on Wednesday announced it has temporarily agreed not to use 0.699 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water flowing in Papermill/Lagunitas Creek, thereby settling a lawsuit and water-rights appeal.

Tomales Bay Association, the Sierra Club Marin Group, Trout Unlimited’s North Bay Chapter, and the Sierra Club Marin Group had challenged the district’s use of half its junior water rights on the creek.

Protecting fish & avoiding homebuilding

The groups had said they were concerned about there being enough water for fish in the creek, but several members also noted the groups feared that if North Marin did not give up some of its junior water rights, more houses might be built in Point Reyes Station, Inverness Park, and Olema, which are served by North Marin’s Point Reyes water system.

The district previously bought 0.67 cfs of senior water rights from the late Waldo Giacomini’s ranch in Point Reyes Station, and North Marin can exercise these rights from May 1 to Nov. 1.

However, because households and businesses connected to the Point Reyes system now use approximately one cfs during the summer, in dry years residents and merchants here may have to cut back their water consumption by one third, said North Marin manager Chris DeGabriele.

NMWD probably can get by

"We think it’s manageable," he said, adding that "outdoor irrigation is where our [conservation] efforts will concentrate in the summer months of dry years."

The district is already prohibited from using its junior water rights of 0.699 cfs and 0.961 cfs during especially "dry" summer months, so the State Water Resources Control Board in 1995 ordered North Marin to obtain an alternative supply of drinking water.

The state also ordered Marin Municipal Water District, which owns Kent Lake reservoir at the head of Papermill/Lagunitas Creek, to maintain adequate flows for steelhead and coho salmon.

However, under an existing agreement, Marin Municipal is obligated to sell North Marin additional water if needed.

When North Marin and the Park Service (which is buying the farm) each bought portions of the Giacomini senior water rights on Papermill/Lagunitas Creek, NMWD sought state permission to stop using its water for agriculture and start using it for "municipal" consumption.

North Marin at the time declared it was exempt from having to finance an expensive environmental-impact report, arguing that changing where and how the water would be used will not hurt the environment.

Activists’ challenges

However, the Tomales Bay Association and Trout Unlimited North Bay petitioned Marin County Superior Court to make NMWD pay for an EIR. The conservation groups also protested the state’s giving North Marin permission to change the use of water that had previously been used for irrigation.

As part of the settlement, which ends the activists’ Marin Superior Court case and State Water Resources Control Board appeal, North Marin also agreed to:

• Establish a West Marin water-shortage-contingency plan for conservation during dry years. Having such a plan "on the shelf...is the right thing to do," said DeGabriele.

• Continue its joint-funding agreement with the Park Service to maintain a US Geological Service gauge at the Gallagher Ranch in order to measure the amount of water flowing in the creek.

• Revise its salinity-intrusion-notification practice and establish a "salinity threshold" that would determine when a barrier, such as the old Giacomini summer dam, needs to be erected to keep saltwater out of the water system’s creekside wells. The state has ruled such a barrier must be built upstream from the Green Bridge.

• Report on summer-month water shortages following each dry year, hold a public workshop on the report, and receive public comments and recommendations prior to presenting the report to North Marin directors.

Every five years North Marin will review its earmarking 0.699 cfs in junior water rights to maintaining "in-stream" flows. "We’re going to look at that and see if we can continue to dedicate that [0.699 cfs to in-stream flows] or to discontinue the dedication and use [the water] for its original purpose, which was a municipal use," said DeGabriele. "We don’t think that will happen," he added, "but we don’t have land-use authority."

If the county – which does regulate land use – were to permit more development in North Marin’s service area here, more water would be needed, DeGabriele acknowledged.

Long negotiations

Negotiating the settlement this past summer was "long and hard," said the district manager, "especially for me."

"It is amazing what parties can accomplish when they focus on mutual gains," said Trout Unlimited’s Chuck Bonham. "We did not always see eye to eye, but, by approaching our interests and differences in a reasonable and responsible manner, we collectively have produced a settlement agreement that will contribute to the continued success of coho and steelhead recovery, and allow the District to meet its water supply needs."

"The District has had a goal to secure a reliable and high-quality water supply for our West Marin customers in dry years," said DeGabriele, [but] is also committed to good stewardship of Lagunitas Creek’s natural resources."

"The Tomales Bay Association has undertaken many habitat improvement and monitoring programs in this watershed, dating back to 1986," said Ken Fox of the Tomales Bay Association. "Therefore, we join fully in supporting this settlement agreement as a way to build on our commitment to the watershed."

Gordon Bennett of the Sierra Club said, "We feel the same way. Through a long summer of negotiations, it became clear that we could produce a ‘win-win’ if all parties focused. And, sure enough, that is what happened."

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