If early results hold, the
voters just gave Marin Municipal Water District directors an unambiguous
message.
The public wants water
security, including a four-year reserve – no more kicking the can down the
road. Act and do it now. Planning is essential, but with the time and money
already spent on studies, MMWD leaders need to make up their mind and implement
decisions.
That message apparently
wasn’t received until election night by expected outgoing directors Jack
Gibson, Larry Bragman and Cynthia Koehler.
Koehler chose to retire
instead of running for reelection after serving 17 years. Given the substantial
vote margins between the candidates so far, it appears there’s little doubt the
two incumbents, Gibson and Bragman, were defeated.
The nonpartisan election
wasn’t about personalities; it was about policy. It’s widely agreed that
Gibson, Bragman and Koehler are dedicated public officials and talented
individuals. Likewise, few dispute that all three of the victors are
accomplished in their professional and civic lives.
The Marin County Civil
Grand Jury report, “A Roadmap to Water Resilience for MMWD” was damning and
pivotal. Its central point was clear. “Last year’s drought emergency could have
been avoided if MMWD had taken sufficient measures to provide for a resilient
water supply. With the mounting challenges posed by climate change, the
mistakes of the past cannot be repeated. MMWD must establish a roadmap for
achieving water supply resilience without delay.”
After threatened water
rationing, it didn’t take much to convince central and southern Marin voters
and the agency’s 191,000 customers that change was due. The leading
vote-getters, Ranjiv Khush (over Bragman), Matthew Samson (over Gibson) and Jed
Smith (leading to succeed Koehler), all have committed to implementing new
water supplies at the earliest possible date.
All candidates sought
endorsements from community-based organizations and leaders to give them
credibility.
In the water board
elections, support from Marin’s COST, the Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers,
turned out to be decisive. COST’s goal was targeted: encourage new candidates
who will aggressively advocate for innovative water sources at a reasonable
price.
It’s not just that the
candidates on their slate, Khush, Samson and Smith, all won. COST was involved
early in recruiting them to enter the contest. Rep. Jared Huffman was
separately involved in convincing venture capitalist and environmentalist Smith
to jump into the race. Conversely, the vaunted Sierra Club endorsement failed
to deliver for its endorsees, Bragman and Gibson.
While the role of
conservation remains an important component of achieving adequate water
availability, new sources need to not just be studied but obtained. There are
ample practical options. They include raising dam heights to increase reservoir
capacity, capturing winter Russian River water flowing to the Pacific Ocean and
storing it in Sonoma’s aquifer, plus desalination. Whatever the conclusion,
2023 must be the year of decision, and implementation needs to follow soon
thereafter.
The spotlight now isn’t
just on the three likely new directors. It’s on the two directors who’ll see
their terms expire in 2024: Monty Schmitt of San Rafael and Tiburon’s Larry
Russell, the MMWD board’s current chair.
Voters’ tolerance for
dithering is over. If Schmitt and Russell don’t get their acts in gear and work
with the three new directors to deliver reliable water, they may either choose
to retire like Koehler or experience the electoral fate of Gibson and Bragman.
MMWD is blessed with a
first-rate staff who properly follows the policy directions of elected board
members. We can expect these pros led by MMWD general manager Ben Horenstein to
act promptly once the new board sends them clear marching orders. If that
happens and actions are taken to implement those decisions, water consumers may
soon see light at the end of the (water) tunnel.
Marin Independent Journal
Dick Spotswood
November 12, 2022
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