Sonoma County to update its multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan

En español »

The Sonoma County Department of Emergency Management has begun the process of updating the 2021 Hazard Mitigation Plan for the County and 23 of its municipalities and special districts. The mitigation projects that are identified in the plan will reduce vulnerability and increase community resiliency to disasters. 

The plan will focus on the safety of existing and future buildings, infrastructure and critical facilities that could be impacted by a natural disaster. A risk assessment will be conducted to identify hazards that may impact Sonoma County and its municipalities and special districts, profile the relevant hazards and their potential consequences, identify assets subject to losses or damage, and estimate the potential losses resulting from each type of hazard. 

Following the risk assessment, the County and participating jurisdictions will develop a hazard mitigation strategy, including identifying hazard mitigation goals and a prioritized list of actions designed to reduce losses. The update of this plan allows the County and participating jurisdictions to continue to be eligible for future pre- and post-disaster mitigation funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, most commonly referred to as FEMA.  

Examples of grant-eligible projects include home acquisitions or elevations—to either remove houses located in the floodplain to generate open space and increase flood storage or raise their first floor above the FEMA base flood elevation—and local flood control measures.

The County is asking members of the public to contribute to the planning process by taking a survey. This survey is designed to gather information from around Sonoma County to help us better coordinate activities and reduce the risk of injury or property damage. These questions are for information-gathering only and responses will be shared with municipal, state, federal and county entities for planning purposes only. 

To access the survey and to find out more about the planning process, please visit the Sonoma Department of Emergency Hazard Mitigation webpage or follow the links listed below:

Survey in English:  https://forms.office.com/r/QQJCT1zgeL

Cuestionario en español: https://forms.office.com/r/pmcjqMN9ig 

Participating Jurisdictions include:

• Bodega Bay Public Utility District 
• City of Cloverdale
• City of Cotati
• City of Healdsburg
• City of Petaluma
• City of Rohnert Park
• City of Santa Rosa 
• City of Sebastopol 
• City of Sonoma
• Cloverdale Fire Protection District
• County of Sonoma
• Gold Ridge Fire Protection District
• Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District
• North Sonoma Coast Fire Protection District
• Northern Sonoma County Fire Protection District
• Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District
• Santa Rosa Junior College
• Sonoma County Ag + Open Space
• Sonoma County Fire District
• Sonoma Resource Conservation District
• Sonoma Valley Fire District
• Sonoma Water
• Timber Cove Fire Protection District
• Town of Windsor

A diverse group of stakeholders in the Sonoma County Hazard Mitigation Working Group will advise on the planning process for the plan update. The group will regularly meet and advise on key milestone decisions while streamlining the planning process. 

The first meeting will be held virtually on Dec. 11 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The general public can register on the Sonoma Department of Emergency Hazard Mitigation webpage. 

For questions or inquiries, please reach out to hazardmitigation@sonoma-county.org

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Media Contact:
Gilbert Martinez, Communications Specialist
publicaffairs@sonoma-county.org
(707) 565-3040
575 Administration Drive, Suite 104A
Santa Rosa, CA 95403