Advancing Water Security for All—2025 update on water strategy

2025 was no easy year, but it reminded us just how much can happen when we work together to care for these lands, communities, and waters we call home.

With your support, we expanded protected habitats, strengthened wildlife corridors, restored wetlands and creeks, and brought more people into closer connection with the natural world, all across Sonoma County. Every acre conserved, seed planted, and outing hosted reflects the collective stewardship of thousands of people working together towards a shared vision of a future where we live in harmony with the natural world.

Securing Freshwater Flows

In 2025, we had a big win for advancing our Freshwater Flows program. The acquisition of the Monte Rio Redwoods Expansion property added 1,517 acres of forest and tributaries to the Sonoma County park system and expanded a mosaic of protected lands that stretches across more than 22,000 acres from the redwoods to the coast. Protecting these upland streams helps keep water cold and clean as it travels through the watershed, supporting the salmonids and freshwater systems that anchor life downstream.

Adapting to Rising Waters

Along the San Pablo Baylands, our work preparing for rising sea levels hit a milestone. We’ve now secured key properties commonly referred to as Camps 3, 4, and 5—1,800 acres in total—completing the land base we need to move forward on the 10,000-acre Sonoma Creek Baylands Restoration Project. This is huge news as it moves this phase of the Baylands restoration from acquisition to restoration. This effort, supported by partners ranging from the Moore Foundation to the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority, State Coastal Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Board, Ducks Unlimited, USFWS, Sonoma Water, NRCS, and individual donors, lays the groundwork for one of the region’s most ambitious tidal restoration projects.