Overview
- Marin County and the Marin Municipal Water District have begun a managed drawdown that will remove about 60 to 160 acre-feet of water over the next four to six weeks to create temporary storage in Phoenix Lake.
- The district will use the pumped water inside its supply system rather than releasing it into creeks or downstream channels, and officials say the lake will not be fully drained to avoid harming water quality.
- Phoenix Lake is the smallest of the district’s seven reservoirs and sits above the town of Ross; it currently stands above normal and will be lowered roughly to its 2021 level to make room for storm runoff.
- The action is part of a broader winter preparedness push that included an extra $3 million from the county and local measures such as berms and sandbags to cope with higher tides and possible El Niño-driven storms.
- Officials caution the drawdown reduces but does not eliminate flood risk and say the move launches a more coordinated, operational approach to using existing reservoirs as temporary buffers during extreme weather.