The San Geronimo Valley will soon have a more reliable water distribution system thanks to a new pump station that will serve as a backup for the San Geronimo treatment plant. Marin Municipal Water District will begin construction on the station, which will be located near the Smith Saddle tanks in the Loma Alta Open Space Preserve, this month. The project is expected to be complete in the spring. The new station will allow the transfer of water from the intertie with the Sonoma County Water Agency to the Conifer Way tank in Woodacre. The valley currently receives water from the treatment plant near the golf course, but the new station will fire up in the case of an emergency. “Should the San Geronimo water treatment plant need to be brought offline the new pump station will enable M.M.W.D. to continue to provide water to residents,” Lon Peterson, communications and outreach manager for the district, told the Light in an email. He added that this is a “precautionary effort” as opposed to a response to problems with reliability in the past. The project aligns with the district’s five-year strategic plan, approved in 2014, that aims to improve water supply resiliency and adequately maintain facilities and equipment. Thompson Builders Corp. won the bid, to the tune of $717,000; the project is funded by the district’s capital improvement program.