About

Every drop of rain that lands in Sonoma County is headed somewhere: into the soil, down a creek, or through a pipe to your tap. The Downspout follows it. We dig up the facts, run the public numbers ourselves, and show how it all connects, from your roof to the Russian River. We care about what works, what it costs, and what it leaves for the salmon, the oaks and the people downstream.

What to expect from us

• Plain answers to the water questions people here actually ask.
• Our own numbers, worked out from public data, with the method shown.
• Free tools that do the math for you, with more on the way.
• News when the rules or the water supply change.
• A growing directory of agencies, groups and local businesses.

Our lens and values

We have a point of view, and we stand by it.

• We look at the whole picture: what is practical, what it costs, and what it means ecologically.
• We think in watersheds. What happens upstream reaches everyone downstream.
• Water is shared between people and the more-than-human world: salmon, birds, oaks and the soil.
• We value conservation, rain catchment, graywater, regenerative land care, and restoring creeks and habitat, in ways that make sense for a real home and budget.
• We want to work with local businesses and groups that make Sonoma County more resilient and its watersheds healthier.

Our biases, and how we handle them

A point of view is a bias. We would rather name ours than hide it. Here is how we keep it from bending the facts.

• Facts come first. Every number and rule traces to a named source you can check.
• Our opinions are labeled as ours. They usually sit under "What it means for you."
• When the data cuts against what we would like to be true, we print it anyway.
• When people disagree, we give each side's reasons in their own terms.
• We connect the pieces: rain, rivers, wells, taps and the living things that depend on them.

How it is made

We use modern resources and technology, including AI, to help us outline and draft our articles. Every fact is checked against the sources listed on the page. Every article is checked by a separate reviewer before it goes public, and a person oversees the work. Read our editorial policy.

Independence

We are not a government agency or a utility. Check rules with your city or county before you build.

Photos are from Unsplash.