<p>Public Input Needed on Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District Disaster Planning </p><p> </p>

The Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District (District) has released a draft of its updated Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) that creates a blueprint for reducing the damage to the District’s infrastructure from natural disasters, such as floods, droughts, fires, and earthquakes. Members of the public are invited to submit comments on the draft LHMP during the 21-day public comment period that opens on November 1, 2021. To review the LHMP and provide input, visit: https://www.sonomawater.org/svlhmp

The LHMP forms the foundation for a community’s long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses and break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. The planning process includes public and stakeholder involvement. The District is working with its stakeholders to complete an update of the 2016 LHMP. 

The District must update its LHMP every five years to ensure it remains relevant to current events and system conditions and to meet requirements set forth by FEMA. In particular, staff has reviewed the District’s vulnerabilities and risks, as well as the prioritized listing of hazard mitigation actions.  

LHMPs are public documents that create a framework for risk-based decision making to reduce damage to lives, property, and the economy from future disasters, such as earthquakes, fires, and floods. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) utilizes LHMPs to issue grant funding for pre-disaster and hazard mitigation actions. 

In 2008 the District initiated a natural hazard assessment, which was instrumental in creating the District’s first LHMP in 2016, and includes a priority listing of hazard mitigation actions. 

If you are interested in following the LHMP preparation, approval, and adoption process or providing input, visit: https://www.sonomawater.org/svlhmp All LHMP drafts for public review will be posted for public review on this page. You can submit questions or comments by sending an email to LHMP@scwa.ca.gov.