Enviro Updates – Page 2 – An environmental newsfeed for Sonoma County

Sonoma Water awarded nearly $48 million to upgrade lower Russian River wastewater system

May 19, 2026

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

A long-awaited overhaul of the lower Russian River’s aging wastewater system is on deck after Sonoma Water was awarded a $47.8 million grant from the state.

The money, funded through California’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund program, will support the Russian River Sanitation District’s efforts to rehabilitate the system’s 34 miles of sewer lines and four miles of mains, serving 3,300 parcels between Rio Nido to Vacation Beach in Guerneville.

“I can’t promise anything, but I think we’re going to see a significant benefit and improvements to the overall functionality of the system,” Carlos Diaz, deputy director in engineering design with Sonoma Water said.

The award is the largest ever for Sonoma Water, the parent agency that first applied for the grant in 2019. It has seen repeated spills on its watch linked to the Neeley Road plant. The latest, and largest in more than 40 years, came in January, when an estimated 5.5 million gallons of wastewater, including untreated sewage, overflowed from the treatment plant into the lower Russian River for more than three days.

WaterRussian River, Sonoma Water, wastewater, wastewater treatment

Sonoma County officials resurrect decade-long effort for local composting facility

May 13, 2026

Anna Armstrong, PRESS DEMOCRAT

More than a decade after Sonoma County lost its commercial composting facility, county officials are moving forward with a proposal for a new regional site northwest of Santa Rosa they say could process most of the county’s residential green bin waste locally.

At an April 28 meeting, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors authorized the environmental review for a prospective compositing facility at 5200 Slusser Road, immediately west of the county’s airport at the former county landfill site.

Should the facility move forward, the site would process up to 70,000 tons of residential green bin waste annually, accounting for around 80% of the total amount of compostable waste generated across the county.

County officials say the centrally-located facility could help reduce truck traffic and greenhouse gas emissions associated with hauling the material out of the county, while fulfilling state requirements to divert organic waste from landfills.

Agriculture/Food System, Sustainable Livingcomposting facilities, landfill, Zero Waste Sonoma

Santa Rosa approves redrawn fire hazard maps

May 13, 2026

Paulina Pineda, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Roughly 3,100 more properties fall within risk zones; opponents fear insurance rate hikes

Santa Rosa leaders approved updates to the city’s fire hazard areas in what they described as a push to better safeguard the city from another destructive wildfire.

About 3,100 properties across parts of Bennett Valley and in Oakmont will be added to the city’s so-called wildland urban interface, or WUI, under the expanded boundaries.

The approval Tuesday by a 6-0 vote came over objections from a group of residents who have raised questions about the process used to craft the maps and the implications for their properties.

The neighbors, who live in the area surrounding Matanzas Creek south of Hoen Avenue, worry they could see property insurance rates rise or lose coverage altogether by being included in the updated boundaries.

Climate Change & Energy, Forestsfire safety vegetation rules, Santa Rosa, wildfire hazard, wildland urban interface

Highway 37 project wins permit from regional agency

May 13, 2026

Adrian Rodriguez, PRESS DEMOCRAT

A multimillion-dollar project to reduce gridlock and protect against flooding on Highway 37 between Marin and Solano counties has secured a key approval after more than 10 years of regional planning.

The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission voted unanimously to authorize a permit for the first leg of a three-phase construction project on a 10-mile segment of the highway from Sears Point to Mare Island.

The project, which also is intended to fortify a portion of the San Pablo Baylands, is an interim solution while planners work toward what they call the “ultimate project” to raise the entire 21-mile corridor. The undertaking is years away and expected to cost billions of dollars.

The first phase involves replacing the Tolay Creek Bridge at Sears Point with a longer and wider bridge, and widening the highway to four lanes east through Tubbs Island.

Climate Change & Energy, TransportationHighway 37, San Pablo Bay, sea level rise

California tribes could help oversee ancestral redwoods again

May 12, 2026

Lila Seidman, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Daniel Felix, 10, looks out from atop a gargantuan stump of an old-growth redwood on his tribe’s ancestral land. Once, this forest on California’s North Coast was replete with the ancient behemoths that can live beyond 2,000 years.

Only a fraction are left now, depleted by a logging company before the state acquired the forest in the 1940s.

This is unique public land, Jackson Demonstration State Forest, spanning 50,000 acres in Mendocino County. Trees are plentiful here, but they might not live a millennium. California’s 14 demonstration forests are required to produce and sell timber to show — or “demonstrate” — sustainable practices. Money from logging — roughly $8.5 million a year — pays for management of the forests by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

Daniel’s tribe, the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, has pushed to rein in the cutting — spearheaded by his late great-grandmother, Priscilla Hunter. They’re part of a diverse coalition that includes environmental activists, local politicians and other tribes.

Now they may finally get their wish. Assembly member Chris Rogers, D-Santa Rosa, has introduced a bill that would nix the forests’ logging mandate, instead prioritizing values such as carbon storage, wildfire resilience and biodiversity.

ForestsAB2494, carbon sequestration, forest management, forest regeneration, Jackson Demonstration State Forest, logging, Pomo, prescribed burns, redwoods

SMART needs just a simple majority on Measure B to lock in crucial tax revenue for 30 more years

May 12, 2026

Austin Murphy and Emma Murphy, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Was this the SMART train, or the Lexington Avenue local during a New York City rush hour?

It took several minutes on the morning of April 18 for passengers on the platform at the Santa Rosa Downtown station to pack themselves onto a southbound train. With the Butter & Egg Days festival happening in Petaluma, four stops south, this was an especially crowded day on SMART, with over 7,200 riders — about 2,500 more than its daily average.

“There’s nowhere to park near the parade,” a mom explained to her two young children, once they were all aboard. “So we’re taking the train!”

On one side of the tracks, as SMART trip No. 9 eased into the Petaluma North station 20 minutes later, was the paved pathway for cyclists and pedestrians, part of a trail network that one day is meant to stretch 70 miles when completed, from Larkspur to Cloverdale. On the other were seven half-finished apartment buildings on land sold by SMART that will eventually hold 131 affordable housing units.

The bustling tableau — packed trains within walking distance of low-cost housing, connecting communities with less reliance on automobiles — was precisely what the founders of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit district envisioned in their successful campaign almost 20 years ago to return passenger train service to the North Bay after a decades-long hiatus.

Transportationpublic transit, sales tax, SMART, SMART Measure B, trains

Op-Ed: Everyone benefits when more people bicycle

May 10, 2026

Eris Weaver, PRESS DEMOCRAT

What would you say if I told you we have a technology that, if more widely deployed, could help solve many of the problems facing us today?

This technology improves physical and mental health. It creates community and is good for the economy. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions. It improves traffic safety and reduces congestion.

It is available to everyone regardless of age, gender, race and economic status, with versions specialized for folks with disabilities. It’s inexpensive and available now — plus it’s fun!

Wouldn’t you say that we need more of that, stat?

Of course, I’m talking about the humble bicycle.

Transportationbicycle infrastructure, bicycle safety, bicycles, ghg emissions