Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership, Master Gardeners to present educational display at Sonoma County Fair

En español »

Visitors to the Sonoma County Fair this year will see a new, educational collaboration between the Sonoma County Master Gardeners and the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership. The two organizations are teaming up to create an educational demonstration garden in the patio outside the Hall of Flowers at the Sonoma County Fair.

The garden, called ‘The Pathway to Sustainability,’ presents an example of an unsustainable landscape composed of a thirsty lawn, closely spaced over-pruned shrubs, and high-water-need annual flowers, and compares it to a garden made up of California native and Mediterranean plants that thrive with little additional irrigation through the dry summer months.

QR codes posted in the garden link to the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership’s website where fairgoers can find a wealth of information on how to build a sustainable garden in Sonoma County, including:

• New, more efficient and smart irrigation technology can monitor weather and time of year to provide the right amount of water.
• Slow, sink, and spread the rain that falls on your property into the soil, including from your roof by creating a rain garden.
• Use California native plants and other low water-use plants to reduce irrigation needs and provide needed habitat for birds and insects critical to our food production.

“'The Pathway to Sustainability' garden embodies our commitment to conservation and resilience, showcasing the transformative power of California native and Mediterranean plants that flourish with minimal irrigation,” said Master Gardener Linda King. “Through this demonstration, we hope to inspire fellow gardeners to embrace smart watering practices and adopt water-wise plant choices, ensuring a greener and drought-resilient future for Sonoma County.”

The purpose of this demonstration garden is to show residential gardeners that the traditional form of gardening with a lawn surrounded by hedges and lots of color provided by annual flowers is not sustainable with the climate in Sonoma County. Plants typically used in these landscapes are more suited to the East Coast, Europe, and China than to California.

After several years of drought, the recent dire water situation hopefully brought this message home. Without the heavy rains of the past winter, Sonoma County would currently be experiencing draconian water reductions.

By converting lawns and thirsty shrubs to plants that have learned to thrive with very little water, Sonoma County can reduce irrigation use by 40 to 70 percent and ensure that its landscapes can survive future droughts.

The Sonoma County Fair runs from Aug. 3 through 13 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, 1350 Bennett Valley Road in Santa Rosa. Find out more at www.savingwaterpartnership.org/fair/.

###

The Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership represents 13 water utilities in Sonoma and Marin counties that have joined together to provide regional solutions for water use efficiency. The utilities include the cities of Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Sonoma, Cotati, Cloverdale, Healdsburg; North Marin, Valley of the Moon and Marin Water; Town of Windsor, California American Water – Larkfield District and Sonoma Water. Each of the partners offer water conservation programs that can assist customers in reducing their water use.

The Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership was formed to identify and recommend implementation of water use efficiency projects and maximize the cost-effectiveness of water use efficiency programs in our region.

Visit us online at www.savingwaterpartnership.org.

### 
Contact:Contact: 
Andrea Rodriguez
Communications Manager, Sonoma Water
(707) 331-2040
Andrea.Rodriguez@scwa.ca.gov