Marin residents are parched for change in California’s water crisis. In the 2022 county elections, voters ousted the two incumbent Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) Board candidates, which the Marin Independent Journal deemed “one of the most sweeping MMWD elections.” This comes after a grand jury report found that the “MMWD has failed to place sufficient priority on development of drought-proof sources of water.”

Beyond Marin, historically-low water levels in the Nevada reservoir Lake Mead have revealed submerged corpses, and certain regions of California now rely entirely on bottled water for hydration. Countless other issues, including wildfires, soil erosion and habitat change, have all accelerated under the drought’s below-normal precipitation patterns — with only one heavy rain season in the past decade, 2017.

While weather is uncontrollable, California is responsible for adapting to a drought entering its fourth year with little rain in sight. Countywide, next year’s MMWD Board of Directors, Ranjiv Khush, Larry Russell, Matt Samson, Monty Schmitt and Jed Smith, will hold a large share of local authority in responding to the water crisis.