By Larry Clinton, Sausalito Historical Society
PHOTO FROM MMWD
The 1977 pipeline eliminated a lane of traffic on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
Recent announcements that the Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) is moving forward with a plan to pipe water across the Bay to alleviate harsh drought conditions is an example of an idea that has come — and gone — before.
During the 1976-77 drought, the District installed a 6-mile pipeline over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to pump in water from the East Bay.
Conservation alone was not enough to preserve Marin’s dwindling water supplies and the district faced running dry in 120 days in 1977 if something couldn’t be done. Marin MMWD worked with county supervisors and other political leaders to convince the state and federal governments to provide aid for the bridge pipeline. The federal government approved a nearly $5.6 million loan for the pipeline and pumping systems and a nearly $1.4 million grant to buy water rights to the State Water Project water bound for southern California.
The loan was met with resistance. One District board member argued the county could pay for the pipeline itself rather than to have to pay interest over 40 years. An Oakland Tribune editorial asked, “How far should the government go to help those residents who have done so little to help themselves?”
Despite its detractors, the pipeline was completed in June 1977, and pumped as much as 10 million gallons of water into Marin per day while the drought lasted. At the urging of Caltrans, the pipeline was removed in 1982 after several time extensions to allow the water district to bolster its storage in its region.
Then in 2000, another pipeline idea also became a political issue. The MMWD board was split over the proposal to build a new pipeline that would bring additional water from the Russian River watershed into Marin, replacing a pipeline owned by the North Marin Water District, which serves the Novato area.
Debate over the pipeline continued to punctuate MMWD Board elections until 2004 when this newspaper reported that the last director in favor it it, Dick Hill, decided not to run for re-election.
Current cost estimates for a new pipeline are $50 million to $70 million, but there’s no guarantee there will be enough water available to fill it. The District has also explored renting two massive desalination units to help offset the rain shortage, but decided against that option, based on estimates that they would cost $30 million and would only produce about half of the needed water if the drought continues.