marin resident sharon mooney recalls.n the rains didn't come and didn't come, people talked about preferring to have rain to sunshine. the next winter continued without rain. farmers were notified that water for irrigation would be drastically cut back. by march of 1977, the reservoir levels had fallen dramatically. don neudeck recalls. it was really amazing to fly over and look at how the reservoirs were down. you couldn't believe it. california was running out of water. officials reallocated water and promoted conservation methods. the drought control center was flooded with suggestions. one woman asked for a moratorium on watering cemeteries. when the living's needs are in danger, let the dead rest a little drier. north of san francisco lie the well-to-do suburbs of marin county. it was forced to begin rationing water. early in the drought's second year, each resident was cut back to 46 gallons daily, 2/3 less than normal. why was marin hit so hard? we asked the former manager of the county water district. that goes ba