Sonoma Water and the County of Sonoma continue to offer monthly town halls to provide the latest information on drought conditions, answer questions and explore key topics, including the impact of the drought on groundwater, recreation, water quality, agriculture, and wildlife.

Watch the Aug. 4 town hall here:
https://socoemergency.org/emergency/drought/

Hosted by Supervisor James Gore, chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, the Aug. 4 installment featured a report on emergency planning to respond to the drought, the potential for water rights curtailments along the Russian River, and an innovative program in Windsor that is distributing free treated wastewater to residents and businesses.

The virtual town halls are streamed to the public in English on Zoom and on the County of Sonoma Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CountyofSonoma/

A version of the town hall featuring Spanish interpretation is available on the County of Sonoma YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/CountyofSonoma

Drought town halls occur the first Thursday of every month at 4 p.m. and run through November on the following dates: Sept. 1, Oct. 6, and Nov. 3.

For more information, please visit: www.SoCoEmergency.org/drought

Also, with fire season underway, make sure you subscribe to SoCoAlert and Nixle to receive alerts:
https://socoemergency.org/get-ready/sign-up/

Plus, make sure you know your official evacuation zone:
https://socoemergency.org/get-ready/evacuation-map/

For information on how to prepare for wildfire, please visit:
https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/

COVID-19 and Monkeypox Update

There are hopeful signs that the COVID-19 BA.5 variant surge may have peaked. New daily COVID-19 infections in Sonoma County have dropped to 27.9 cases per 100,000 people, a decline of about 13 percent over the last two weeks.

Hospitalizations, a lagging indicator of spread, appear to be plateauing after increasing in late July. Thankfully, no deaths have been reported in the county since July 1, when the local death toll from the pandemic reached the grim milestone of 500 fatalities.

Because the latest COVID-19 variants are highly contagious and can make you very sick, Sonoma County’s Health Officer is continuing to strongly encourage residents to wear masks, get tested and get vaccinated and boosted.

For more information about the virus, including where to find COVID-19 vaccine and testing clinics, visit https://socoemergency.org/emergency/novel-coronavirus.

Also, as part of the state’s ongoing response to the monkeypox outbreak, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency on August 1 to bolster vaccination efforts. There are currently 11 cases detected in Sonoma County.

Learn more about Monkeypox and related resources from the California Department of Public Health:
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/monkeypox.aspx