The Santa Rosa Plain, Sonoma Valley, and Petaluma Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agencies have launched the Well Aware Toolkit. Created as part of the Well Aware Program, the toolkit connects well users with practical tools and resources to support groundwater management and sustainability. Water use efficiency is a key part of our plan to protect local groundwater basins and livelihoods. Groundwater is a critical resource in Sonoma County, supporting families, farms, and ecosystems. About 43,000 people within the groundwater sustainability boundaries and many local jobs in Sonoma County solely rely on groundwater supplies. Preserving this resource is critical to the long-term…

The California Water Efficiency Partnership (CalWEP) have created an NFT website as a one-stop statewide hub to help Californians understand what the adoption of Assembly Bill 1572 (AB 1572) means, who it applies to, and how to take action. The AB 1572 bans the use of potable water for irrigation of non-functional turf on commercial, industrial, and institutional properties. Visit https://nonfunctionalturfca.org/ to explore resources for HOA common areas, commercial and industrial properties, public properties and educational institutions. In addition, resources for landscapers are also available. Key resources include: Fact sheets and infographics tailored for specific industry sectors. Case studies and…

NOTE: This event has already occurred. Visit the UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County for future events. Join the Sonoma County Master Gardeners for their free Resilient Landscaping: Gardening in the Defensible Space Zone four-part webinar series explaining landscaping practices that will teach you to maintain both defensible space and sustainability in your garden. Get recommendations regarding plant selection, placement, and maintenance to preserve and even enhance wildlife habitat while keeping your property and neighborhood fire-wise and sustainable. Content has been endorsed by the Fire Chiefs of Sonoma County. Attend one or all of the following presentations in English…

Visitors to the Sonoma County Fair this year will see a fresh, educational collaboration between the UC Master Gardeners of Sonoma County and the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership. The two organizations are teaming up for a third year to create an educational demonstration garden in the patio outside the Hall of Flowers at the Sonoma County Fair.  The garden, called “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs. Home Scale Practices to Retain the Rain,” features ways to slow, spread, and sink rainwater, improve soil health, create beneficial habitat, and showcases a variety of low-water-use plants recommended for the region.  As Sonoma County…

Each year, the Partnership publishes an Annual Report detailing accomplishments over the year. All of the small changes the community has made slowly added up to some impressive numbers like the 372,698 square feet of turf that was removed. That's six and half football fields! See the annual report here. All Annual Reports

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership with two WaterSense Sustained Excellence awards – one as a Promotional Partner and one for the partnership’s Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper program as a Professional Certifying Organization. WaterSense honored its Sustained Excellence, Partner of the Year and Excellence Award winners during the WaterSmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas. The Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership was one of 19 Sustained Excellence Award winners. WaterSense recognized the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership for its water conservation achievements in 2023, including coordinating the partnership’s Dye Tab Challenge contest with the WaterSense Program’s Fix-a-Leak…

Check out the Press Democrat article highlighting the benefits of the Garden Sense Program: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/lifestyle/garden-consultations-sonoma-county/ Learn more about Garden Sense: https://www.savingwaterpartnership.org/programs_list/garden-sense/

Garden Sense is a program of the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership and the UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County. Garden Sense consultants provide support to Sonoma County residents interested in removing lawn, upgrading to efficient irrigation systems, and selecting low water use plants that will thrive in our climate. Garden Sense consultants help residents find applicable rebate programs and provide advice and resources so that residents can feel more confident getting the work done. Since 2014, Garden Sense consultants have completed nearly 2,000 site visits and saved over an estimated 16 million gallons of water! Garden Sense was recently…

October is the start of a new Water Year (Oct. 1 – Sept. 30), and like any new year, it gives us the opportunity to reflect on the past and make resolutions for the future. Statewide, the theme of Water Year 2023 was weather whiplash. Illustrating the dramatic extremes of California’s climate, the governor’s emergency proclamations for both drought and flood were in place simultaneously in the latter part of the water year. Here in Sonoma County, we moved from historic drought to torrential rain and even some remarkable snowfall in a matter of weeks. The rains brought much needed…

The Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership earned multiple awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its work promoting the EPA WaterSense program and water efficiency in 2022.  The awards were presented at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada and included a Partner of the Year Award and a WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award for the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership, the organization’s second and seventh WaterSense awards, respectively. In total, nine Partner of the Year awards were presented at the conference, along with 13 Sustained Excellence awards.  WaterSense, a voluntary partnership program sponsored by the EPA, is both a label…

Shorter days mean shorter run times for your irrigation system. Plants need less water in the fall as growth winds down and plants prepare for winter. Reduce your run times by 20% now and up to 40% in late fall, or check out this Irrigation Scheduling Tool to get a custom schedule. Fall is also time to prune perennials and cool season grasses, and to clear out dead, woody materials and dry leaves for fire season. For more info, check out the Maintenance Calendar in the Water Smart Gardens Maintenance Manual – your guide to a garden that thrives.

Join us at the Sonoma County Fair, August 3-13th. The Sonoma-Marin Saving Partnership and the UC Master Gardeners of Sonoma County have partnered together to showcase a beautiful, sustainable, low water use garden that is designed to thrive in Sonoma County's climate. Our garden demonstration will be on display outside of the Hall of Flowers, stop by to learn about sustainable gardening practices.