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Inverness is located on the southwest shore of Tomales Bay 3.5 miles northwest of Point Reyes Station north of San Francisco, at an elevation of 43 feet. It was settled in the 1890’s and is named after Inverness in Scotland.  In the 2010 census, the population was 1,304.

The Inverness Public Utility District watershed covers some 580 acres of the northeasterly slopes of Mt. Vision (elev. 1,283 ft) on the Point Reyes Peninsula in western Marin County.  The overall watershed is comprised of a series of smaller watersheds identified as First Valley, Second Valley, and Third Valley.  The watershed is entirely upslope from the town of Inverness.  It is bounded to the north by Tomales Bay State Park, to the west by the Point Reyes National Seashore, to the east by the town of Inverness, and to the south by the North Marin Water District.

Vegetative cover in the watershed includes extensive stands of bishop pine forests (the predominant cover type), California bay laurel, alder stands along the lower drainages, some upland marshlands, and some coastal scrub.   The watershed soils are primarily coarse sandy loam complex on 50-75% slopes.  The surface layer is 0- 6 inches deep over quartz-diorite (decomposed granite).  Runoff is rapid and the hazard of water erosion is high.  Slopes tend to be unstable.  Substantial slope failures occurred along the entire Inverness Ridge during the storm of January 1982.

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