Save water outside
Save water outside
Why?
As you well know, drought is a reality. We can never take our water for granted – even in years when we’ve been deluged with rain. Learning the following techniques will help you do your part to capture and conserve water in your garden.
Apply compost & mulch (building owner)
Compost and mulch not only retain water, but also help capture carbon and increase numbers of beneficial soil microbes. Recology provides compost pails to make it easier to compost your kitchen scraps. And the City of Petaluma has a free turf conversion program to help you sheet mulch your lawn. In addition, Zero Waste Sonoma offers a 10 percent rebate for purchases of at least 30 cubic yards of compost and mulch. See resources below to learn more.
Recology: Hello Petaluma!
City of Petaluma: Mulch Madness
Zero Waste Sonoma: Compost and Mulch Rebate
Daily Acts: Sheet Mulching 101
UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County: Mulch Application
Install drip irrigation (building owner)
The benefit of drip irrigation is that it puts the right amount of water in the right place at the right time without wasting water. New to drip irrigation? The resources below can guide you in buying the right equipment, setting up your drip system, and learning how to maintain it.
UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County: Drip Irrigation
Friedman’s: Build a Drip Irrigation System
Install a rain garden
A planted depression in the soil, a rain garden slows, collects, and infiltrates rainwater from a roof, roadway, or nearby hard surface. Rain gardens not only keep our waterways healthier, they also recharge aquifers, reduce flooding, and provide valuable habitat. The plants in a rain garden are ones that can withstand extremes of moisture.
Check out resources from Daily Acts and Sonoma County Master Gardeners for guidance on designing, planning, and building your rain garden.
Daily Acts: Rain Gardens 101
Daily Acts: Land Reslience Partnership through March 2026
Sonoma County Master Gardeners: How to Build a Rain Garden
Install rain barrels (building owner)
A one thousand square foot roof can collect over 600 gallons of water with just one inch of rain!
Collecting rain from the roof of your house is easy and practical and can provide long-term savings on your water bill. Rain catchment also reduces the amount of runoff that flows into creeks and storm drains, easing the burden on wastewater treatment plants and reducing the amount of pollutants washed into local streams and rivers.
With California’s seasonally wet climate, rainwater catchment can help stretch the wet season well into the summer months.
Petaluma-based nonprofit Daily Acts has resource guides and workshops to help you do it yourself. Or hire a professional to help you out.
Rainwater collection calculator (Sonoma County has an average annual rainfall of about 39 inches. Enter that number into the appropriate field in the calculator.)
Daily Acts - Water conservation resources - scroll down to Rain Tanks and Barrels
Daily Acts - Reusing the Rain Webinar: DIY Rain Barrel Systems
Sonoma County Rainwater Harvesting Rebates
Professional installer: The Water Folk free consultation
