Marin County water utility seals deal for Sonoma County pipeline project

The Marin Municipal Water District is entering a $2.65 million deal with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to advance a major drought resiliency project.

The water district board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the partnership agreement, charging the Army Corps to support the “atmospheric river capture” project.

The project is a proposed pipeline that would replenish Marin reservoirs with Sonoma County rainwater during droughts.

Under the agreement, the Army Corps will design a section of the pipeline that is 18,000 feet long. The agreement is a necessary step for the district to use federal funding from the 2022 Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA, slated for the project.

WRDA authorized $28 million for Marin Municipal Water District infrastructure, but the money still has to be appropriated, and earmarks through the annual energy and water appropriations process are the only politically viable means of doing so.

The first $2 million installment was delivered to the district this year at the request of Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat from San Rafael.

In addition to that money, the contract with the Army Corps includes $658,333 of Marin Municipal Water District funds.

“What I think is important about this action is that there are others, at different levels of government, that value what we’re doing and also recognize the importance of this project, how critical it is to Marin Water, but also a benefit to the entire region,” said Matt Samson, a board member. “It makes me feel real good about the choice we made” to advance the pipeline project.

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