What is worth fighting for? I would guess that most of us would narrow it down to the important things in life. Those memories, experiences, qualities and sometimes tangible items that built us. The people we would lay down our lives for and the principles we hang our hats on. Billions of flash-in-the-pan moments of good, bad and in between that we hold in our souls and which no one can touch because they have a singular owner and are impossible to reproduce. I would venture to say that every one of us would fight for what we love.
On Oct. 17, 2021, with the season’s first rains brewing above me, I walked three and a half miles along the bottom of the drought-stricken Soulajule Reservoir before I hit water. For a multigenerational rancher, this was where heaven and hell met: at the stark line where the water once was.
If you have ever been to Hicks Valley, you cannot deny its beauty. As I walked the sheer desolation that is the arid bottom of a dry lakebed, I knew I should be 30 feet below the water’s surface. The drought was very real that year, and Marin Water had tapped into the reservoir, perhaps for the first time in my lifetime.
The Soulajule is a challenging source of potable water. The reservoir is solely dependent on the 12,000-acre watershed that feeds its 10,570-acre-foot capacity. Its waters do not directly gravity feed into the Marin Water system, but rather pass through massive diesel generators at a pump station, a 30-inch-diameter overland pipe system that climbs hundreds of feet in elevation for close to four miles over the hill and then two miles along native tributary, and ultimately feed into the Nicasio Reservoir. Along with concerning methylmercury levels from long-since decommissioned quicksilver mines, the reservoir has its complications. Make sure to read guidelines on maximum fish consumption should you cast a pole off the levee.
I had concerns for what the drought would bring, but I never imagined the conversations that would change everything. The Soulajule is one of the seven reservoirs owned and managed by Marin Water. It is a reservoir that my grandparents’ generation unsuccessfully fought. My family alone lost nearly 200 acres to inundation in 1979. Roughly 1.7 miles of the Soulajule runs through our family ranch. The remaining waterfront runs along the Dolcini, Stevens, Papulias, Nelson, Gambonini and Googins ranches. These families are a part of the dwindling group of ranchers and farmers residing in Marin County. We all lost fertile land in 1979, but it was nothing compared to what we stand to lose now.
In August 2022, we received a tip that Marin Water was investing in a strategic water assessment that included analyzing the expansion of local storage. The initial projection was to raise the levee 37 feet to nearly triple the capacity of the Soulajule. Utilizing county GIS data, we quickly realized that an increase of this magnitude would inundate and destroy the Barboni and Dolcini residences, barns, livestock facilities, out structures, miles of primary access roadways and potentially hundreds of acres of lowland fertile pastures. Additionally, the residences, structures, pastureland and access on the Stevens, Nelson and Papulias ranches would be compromised. That scenario was one of lost multi-generational family businesses and homes, along with their priceless sentimental value and the opportunity they present for future generations.
For nearly two years, we diligently communicated with Marin Water staff, hosting site visits with board members, attending meetings, and expressing our concerns, fears and historical knowledge in hopes that we will not be swept aside. One meeting would give us some relief, while the next would bring a punch in the gut. The Soulajule appears to be the most feasible solution for reaching the volume target. The sticker price for construction alone, not accounting for numerous subfactors, is already $291 million. We now stand on a fine edge of being the best solution on an impractical list of options. Yet over 70 people, 13 homes, over 30 agricultural buildings, over nine miles of primary and fire access roads, and over 530 acres of fertile pastureland would be affected by the inundation required to expand the Soulajule. Thousands of acres protected by the Marin Agricultural Land Trust would be directly or indirectly affected. These are lands that MALT protected to ensure that agriculture in Marin does not fade into oblivion.
Even if Marin Water installs 20 miles of pipeline to back-feed the Soulajule from Sonoma Water at an astronomical cost, keeping her at crest height at 30,000 acre feet would be challenging given uncertain winter storms. And despite best efforts to keep her full, the vast amount of her area would remain very shallow. When those shallow waters recede, as is natural in cycles, you would see the skeletons of our homes, the remnants of our dedication and the extinction of more than 100 years of agriculture. We lost the fight in 1979, and they took a piece of us. Now they want all of us. For me, that is worth fighting for.
Maria Ghisletta is a rancher and an engineer. She lives in Hicks Valley.