Could Marin Power help protect your home?
Marin Power is being designed to provide temporary pumping power to selected homes and neighborhood locations when severe storms cause flooding and the electrical grid is unavailable. The program will focus on locations where portable pumping could meaningfully reduce water accumulation, the site can be reached safely, and the necessary equipment and EV power are available.
Learn more about the need this project is designed to address: [Why Marin Needs This]
What kinds of locations may be considered?
Potential locations may be appropriate when:
- Flooding is recurring or foreseeable.
- Pumping could meaningfully reduce water accumulation.
- The location can be reached safely.
- Water can be discharged to a safe and appropriate location.
- Pumping can occur without entering dangerous or moving floodwater.
- The location is within the program’s initial service area. (Downtown San Rafael, San Anselmo, Santa Venetia)
- The required pumping capacity can be supported by available equipment and a qualifying EV.
The goal is not to respond to every flooded property. It is to identify locations where a relatively small amount of mobile pumping could help prevent a much larger loss.
Two levels of pumping
Marin Power anticipates two general levels of mobile pumping. Most of our effort is focused on Level 1.
- Level 1 — Neighborhood Pump: A smaller portable pump for localized flooding for homes where the sump pump stopped working due to a power outage using a 1/3-HP pump. (Yards, drainage areas, and neighborhood locations may be considered but not first deployment choice.)
- Level 2 — Heavy Mobile Pump: A larger commercial-grade 1½–2-HP pump for selected drainage problems, neighborhood choke points, or situations where a Level 1 pump would not be sufficient. The number of EVs that support this is much smaller.
Not every location will qualify. Equipment, site conditions, access, discharge options, and available EV capacity will determine what may be practical.
Learn more about the proposed equipment and deployment network: [The Pump Network]
Planning happens before the storm
The long-term goal is to identify potentially suitable locations in advance—not during a flood.
Advance planning may include reviewing:
- Where water typically accumulates
- Previous flooding experience
- Existing sump or drainage equipment
- Potential pump locations
- Potential discharge locations
- Site access and safety conditions
- The equipment and pumping capacity that may be needed
A site assessment may be necessary before a location can be included in the deployment network.
Learn how the system is intended to work: [How it Works]
What Marin Power cannot promise
Marin Power cannot guarantee that a home will remain dry or that flooding will be prevented. Weather, water levels, drainage conditions, equipment capacity, road access, available EVs, and other factors may affect the outcome.
The program is intended to reduce risk—not eliminate it. It will not replace municipal flood-control systems, permanent pump stations, utility services, emergency responders, professional disaster response, or a homeowner’s own flood-prevention measures.
Learn more about capabilities, limitations, and safety requirements: [Safety & Boundaries]
Safety comes first
A flooded home may contain serious electrical and physical hazards. Marin Power will not ask homeowners or volunteers to:
- Enter dangerous or moving floodwater
- Drive through flooded roads
- Perform hazardous electrical work
- Connect an EV to a home’s electrical system unsafely
- Pump water to an unsafe or unauthorized location
A deployment may be delayed or canceled if conditions become unsafe. No home is worth putting a volunteer’s life at risk.
Can I sign up my home?
During the pilot phase, Marin Power will first establish its criteria for participating locations. Once that process is ready, residents in the initial service area may be able to submit information about their location and flooding circumstances for consideration.
Not every location will be suitable. A site may be outside the service area, require more pumping capacity than the program can provide, lack a safe discharge location, have access limitations, or present conditions where pumping would not materially improve the situation.
Marin Power’s goal is to be useful—and honest about its limits.
Learn what the pilot is testing and what still needs to be established: [Pilot Program]
Register Your Location for Consideration
What homeowners can do now
Marin Power is intended to be an additional layer of protection, not a substitute for preparing your home. We may provide a guide in the near future about ideas for preparation even if you aren’t part of the program. Our focus is getting 15 homes covered by 11/1/26. We can refine our approach after that.
Please continue to do your own due diligence to protect your home and follow local emergency guidance and understand how your existing sump pump or other equipment will operate during a power outage.