Northern California recently experienced a downpour of rain, and the rainy season isn’t over just yet. These storms have had a pattern of creating bigger natural disasters.

Sonoma State staff hopes that it doesn’t continue much longer but they do prepare during the rainy season for every possible situation. The Facilities Management team at Sonoma State works together to keep us safe, protected and comfortable. 

Facilities management keeps natural disasters in mind. Flooding could happen on campus but facilities management tries to prevent it all year long but especially this time of year. AVP for facilities management, Dana Twedell said “When it comes to managing stormwater we take a cohesive approach. Prior to the rain season we inspect and jet all of our main underground stormwater lines. We clean the outfalls that empty into Copeland Creek. During the fall we work aggressively to keep leaves and other related materials clear from the storm drains. With all of these preventative measures we’ve been able to alleviate major flooding to date.” Sprinklers and other outdoor water usage is also limited or turned off during these months with heavier rainfall.  

Sonomas landscape brings challenges for how these storms affect our home. The Sonoma County Climate Resilient Lands Strategy mentioned how natural and working lands are at considerable risk of long term flooding.

The land strategy is to find the best way to find a solution for being able to use the benefits of our terrain while also reducing the risk of over flooding. 

Twedell said, “Our goal is to continue to be good stewards of our campus resources, including water.  More and more were leaning towards the planting of California native drought tolerant plant materials, hence lowering our need for irrigation. We’re designating more landscape areas as  “Natural Landscape Areas,” hence less irrigation. We continue to use drip system irrigation around campus, approximately 40 percent at this point.  We continue to inspect and clean our storm drains.  We continue to clean and maintain our building roofs and gutters.  When it comes to stormwater management, preventative maintenance really goes a long way.”