The ongoing drought and another year of unprecedented low rainfall have prompted the California State Water Resources Control Board to push for the consolidation of small public water systems across the state. In a letter sent on April 4, the water board asked North Marin Water District to consider partnerships or consolidations with small systems across West Marin and beyond. According to the letter, systems with the potential for consolidation include Lawson’s Landing, the Walker Creek Ranch Education Center, the Inverness Public Utility District, Samuel P. Taylor State Park and those at beaches in the Point Reyes National Seashore, among others. Drew McIntyre, North Marin’s outgoing general manager, said the district has already taken measures to preserve its water supply through conservation ordinances, and because each water system in Marin has a different source and its own set of water rights, consolidation might be difficult—and in many cases, unnecessary. “The letter was the state’s way of saying that there are opportunities for funding for those municipalities that have severe water supply issues,” he said. Similar letters were sent to water districts throughout California to let them know about available funding and partnership opportunities, part of a statewide public outreach campaign. “We have a whole team dedicated to helping these systems cope with funding concerns, water rights changes and other issues,” said Michelle Frederick, a supervising water resource control engineer with the water board’s Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience, or SAFER, program. “This is a complex process, but one that we know works.” State funding can provide financial incentives to larger water systems in the form of principle forgiveness or grant funding of up to $5,000 per connection when the consolidation involves a smaller, disadvantaged water system and up to $10,000 per connection when it involves a small, severely disadvantaged water system. Small systems are often less resilient to natural disasters such as drought and wildfire and have more difficulty adjusting to regulatory changes and funding infrastructure maintenance due to a lack of resources and staff. Consolidation usually takes the form of a smaller system being absorbed into a larger one. Local resource sharing can be formal or informal, with agreements between water systems that allow them to decrease their costs and work together to jointly contract for billing services, operator services and specialized equipment. Mr. McIntyre said North Marin “has a long and robust history since the 1970s of supporting small water systems,” and that Marin’s Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, would need to make a specific recommendation for any consolidation to take place. “If LAFCO [were to make] a specific, mandatory recommendation, then there would be an opportunity for community consensus. At this point there are no plans for consolidation of any of the county’s water systems,” he said. Yet the severity of the drought has prompted Marin’s water districts to look at all their options. Wade Holland, the customer services manager for the Inverness Public Utility District, said that all of the water system managers in the county meet quarterly to explore ways to work together and manage drought conditions. I.P.U.D. and North Marin established an intertie in the 1980s to allow water sharing for emergency or special operational needs, though voters subsequently defeated measures that would have allowed its use for regular water purchases. The broader issue is that small water systems in West Marin are not physically connected to larger systems in East Marin, Mr. Holland said. “Different ideas, like bringing water across the Richmond Bridge and into Lagunitas Creek, are being explored,” he said. “Drought conditions are looking grim for the summer, so all options are on the table.”