VIGNETTE > Belvedere Reservoir

Mill Valley’s original water supply facilities installed in 1890 proved inadequate as the town grew. In 1893, the Tamalpais Land & Water Co. (TL&WC) constructed a dam and reservoir in Cascade Canyon. A new 12-inch pipeline brought water from Fern Creek on Mt. Tamalpais. In 1902, TL&WC split off its water operations forming the North Coast Water Company (NCWC).  In 1904, NCWC agreed to supply water to the Belvedere Land Company.  In 1905 NCWC constructed a 12,000 ft. pipeline on what is now called “Pipeline Trail” from the north fork of Laguna Creek, a tributary of Fern Creek to the Belvedere Reservoir on a ten-acre parcel located above the corner of Sequoia Valley Rd. and Edgewood Ave.  A pipeline connected the reservoir with storage facilities on Belvedere Island. The Belvedere Reservoir had two riprap earthen dams which early on developed leaks caused by gophers. In 1911, leakage amounted to over 70,000 gallons per day. In 1912, NCWC and other Marin water companies were incorporated into the Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD). As Marin grew, MMWD expanded and integrated its supply system with new reservoirs and pipelines on Mt. Tamalpais. In 1967 MMWD replaced the Belvedere Reservoir with a nearby five million gallon steel tank. The leaking old pipeline on “Pipeline Trail” was abandoned.