Districts List
FCZ #1 Novato Fund 23710
Zone 1 is a relatively large flood control zone that encompasses the entire city of Novato plus a sizeable amount of unincorporated area around the City. The Zone was formed in 1970 and includes essentially the entire watershed tributary to Novato and Rush Creeks. The Zone was formed to address flooding issues in downtown Novato and surrounding areas. Novato Creek is a substantial perennial stream that extends approximately 17 miles from San Pablo Bay to its headwaters at Stafford Lake. This creek, along with its numerous tributaries including Bowman Creek, Simmons Creek, Warner Creek and Arroyo Avichi, drains an approximately 27,500-acre watershed. Ongoing maintenance includes periodic dredging of lower Novato Creek, Warner Creek and Arroyo Avichi, regular servicing of pump stations, tidegates, levees, and drainages, and an annual vegetation maintenance program.
FCZ #3 Richardson Bay Fund 23720
Zone 3 includes a large portion of the Southern Marin draining to Richardson Bay including the City of Mill Valley, and numerous unincorporated communities including Alto, Sutton Manor, Almonte, Tamalpais Valley, Homestead Valley, and portions of Strawberry Point. The County Board of Supervisors formed Flood Control Zone 3 in 1956 to address the area adjacent to Richardson Bay's vulnerability to flooding from creek and tidal action. The Zone includes Richardson Bay and its many drainage areas tributary to the Bay including: Coyote Creek, Corte Madera del Presidio, and Warner Creek. Maintenance activities include regular servicing of pump stations, tidegates, levees and drainage ditches, and an annual vegetation maintenance program.
FCZ #4 Bel Aire Fund 23730
Flood Zone 4 is located on the Tiburon Peninsula encompassing portions of the City of Tiburon, including the community of Bel Aire. Flood Zone 4 was created in May of 1957 to alleviate chronic flooding in what was the Bel Aire subdivision and adjacent undeveloped lands. The boundaries of the zone were later amended to include the residents of Strawberry Circle. The Zone currently maintains existing facilities including pump stations and does an annual cleaning of drainage ways.
FCZ #4A Strawberry Circle Fund 23740
Includes all parcels of real estate on Strawberry Circle in the unincorporated area between the City of Mill Valley and the Town of Tiburon. Flood Control Zone 4A was created by the Board of Supervisors of the Marin County Flood Control & Water Conservation District (District) to raise funds for flood protection for the homeowners and residents on that street. Voters residing in this zone passed Measure F in 2002 with over two-thirds of voters in favor of allowing the Flood Control District to levy a special tax for the purpose of maintaining a new flood control pump station that serves only the Subzone 4A community. The special tax raises approximately $6,000 per year. These funds are used for maintenance of the Strawberry Circle Pump Station, which drains rainfall from Strawberry Circle even during high tide.
FCZ #5 Stinson Beach Fund 23750
There are three sources of flooding in Stinson Beach: overflow of Easkoot Creek, extremely high tides, and extremely high surf. Flood Control Zone No. 5 was created in 1961 to address the flooding in Stinson Beach. Initially, the main focus of Zone was periodic maintenance dredging of Easkoot Creek. Over time it has become evident that during medium to large storm events an active slide on Mt. Tamalpais releases enough hillside material to fill in the creek, even if it has recently been dredged. New efforts in the Zone are now focusing on developing a long-term non-dredge flood reduction alternate while continuing routine maintenance activities such as removal of debris jams at brides and vegetation maintenance along the creek corridor.
FCZ #6 San Rafael Meadows Fund 23760
Flood Zone 6 was established after construction of the San Rafael Meadows subdivision in the 1960s. This is a very small zone located just west of Highway 101 across from the County Civic Center. Houses were built in a low lying area and experienced frequent flooding until improvements were made. In the early 2000s, during the construction of a new subdivision project a majority of the stormwater causing the flooding was rerouted around the community eliminating a significant cause of flooding in the zone. In addition, the zone was annexed by City of San Rafael, who now owns and maintains all the Zone’s
drainage easements.
FCZ #7 Santa Venetia Fund 23770
Flood Control Zone 7 is comprised of the unincorporated community of Santa Venetia, east of 101 along San Pedro Road. It was one of the first developments in Marin County to be constructed on fill over bay mud and occurred in an era before the County had the authority to regulate or control development. Due to the low initial elevation of the fill and the compressible nature of the underlying bay mud, the area has subsided and is now below the high tide level. To protect themselves from tidal flooding of Las Gallinas Creek, the residents of Santa Venetia formed Flood Control Zone 7 in 1962. The annual maintenance program for facilities includes pump stations and levees, as well as other drainage facilities in the Zone.
FCZ #9A Ross Valley Corte Madera Fund 23780
Consisted of the unincorporated portions of Flood Control Zone 9, detailed below. While there is still a balance of funds collected during its existence, Flood Control Zone 9A has been dissolved. The original purpose of the Zone was to fund creek maintenance activities within its boundaries, though later authorized uses included funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Unit IV project.
FCZ #9 Ross Valley Fund 23781
This is a very large Zone encompassing the watershed drained by Corte Madera Creek and includes the towns of Fairfax, San Anselmo, Ross and Larkspur as well as the unincorporated communities of San Anselmo, Fairfax, Kentfield, and Greenbrae. Zone 9 was established in 1966 to act as a sponsoring agency for a major U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Flood Control project on Corte Madera Creek. In January 2007, the flood zone boundaries were amended to include all territories within the incorporated areas of the towns of San Anselmo and Fairfax. This change was undertaken in response to the flood of
December 30, 2005 and the subsequent creation of the Ross Valley Flood Control and Watershed program. The Zone maintains the Corte Madera Creek flood control channel from just downstream of the Ross Post Office to the outfall of the creek in Larkspur. Typical activities include an annual vegetation and debris cleaning of the creeks and fire suppression mowing.
FCZ #10 Inverness Fund 23790
Located along the West shore of Tomales Bay and the East flank of the Inverness Ridge, Zone 10 was formed after the January 1982 storm. After dealing with the aftermath of that storm the Zone has been relatively dormant but is being kept intact to be ready for the next large storm. Some creek clearance is completed on an as-needed basis.
MC Stormwater Pollution Prev Prgm 25025
- Description or geographic location of the District: The Marin County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program (MCSTOPPP) was established through a Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement between the Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, the County of Marin, and the 11 cities and towns of Marin (Member Agencies). MCSTOPPP is administered by the Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District and is staffed by County of Marin staff. MCSTOPPP is a countywide program with most implementation occurring in east Marin’s urban corridor.
- Purpose/function of the District: Develop, implement and administer a stormwater pollution control program to reduce the discharge of pollutants in stormwater to the maximum extent practicable per the requirements of the State Water Resources Control Board Water Quality Order No. 2013-0001-DWQ National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (Phase II Permit).
- Activities of the District: MCSTOPPP countywide program activities are conducted for the benefit of all MCSTOPPP agencies. MCSTOPPP staff conducts water quality monitoring, stormwater outfall assessments, priority area pollution prevention inspections, mapping, public outreach and education, Marin Project Coordination meetings, and permit compliance training for municipal staff, construction contractors, and development professionals. MCSTOPPP staff also develops guidance, tools and programs to assist Member Agencies with Phase II Permit compliance, including
compliance with special requirements for impaired water bodies such as Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) and program effectiveness requirements. Finally, MCSTOPPP assists member agencies with annual reporting to the State Water Resources Control Board.