Water Resources and Conservation

Mulch Madness Program – April 1st - October 1st

The City of Petaluma is crazy about water conservation! Our Mulch Madness Program is proof of this. We are so dedicated to helping our customers save water that we are offering free mulch, compost, cardboard, an irrigation conversion kit and free native plants from a local native plant nursery to those customers who wish to sheet mulch their existing turf. That's right, FREE! This even includes delivery of the mulch, compost and cardboard. It's Madness!

If you regularly use your turf for recreational purposes, that's great; keep it healthy and happy. But at most locations turf areas are rarely ever used except to mow, edge and fertilize; wasting water, using fossil fuels and polluting the environment. This is the type of turf that we are after! A typical 1000 square foot area of turf uses more than 25,000 gallons of water per year; it is one of the biggest water users out there!

Why not take advantage of the Mulch Madness Program and convert your rarely-used water guzzling turf into something more appropriate; a low water use garden or even a vegetable garden or food forest!

How to Qualify
To qualify, a single family residential and multifamily residential customer must first sign up for a Water-Wise HouseCall, another great free program offered by the City of Petaluma. A trained water conservation professional will measure your turf area and determine the amount of supplies you will need. Commercial accounts must also call first and have a representative from the City visit their site to evaluate the landscape.

Next, the City will contact our suppliers who will then contact you to set up a delivery date. After your mulch, compost and cardboard are delivered, you can pick up your drip irrigation conversion kit and plants (plants and irrigation conversion kits are only available to single family residential accounts). During the site visit, you will be given more information about the program as well as instructions on how to sheet mulch your turf and convert your irrigation system to a drip system. You can also call our Water Conservation Hotline at (707) 778-4507 at any time if you have any questions.

Mulch Assistance Program (MAP)
The City understands that there are customers who may wish to participate in the Mulch Madness program but may not have the resources available to have the free supplies installed at their property. We are here to help those qualifying customers by offering free labor provided by local volunteer groups to install the sheet mulch supplies. Please contact us for more information at conservation@ci.petaluma.ca.us or by calling our Water Conservation Hotline at (707) 778-4507.

Program Rules
The City begins scheduling appointments for The Mulch Madness Program on March 15th. Appointments are available Monday through Friday beginning April 1st until October 1st each year. This time frame coincides with the California Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Best Management Practices (BMP’s) for preventing contaminants from entering the storm water collection system during the rainy season. Customers who receive mulch and/or compost between April 1st and October 1st and rain is forecasted while the mulch and/or compost is still piled on their driveway or other hardscape are recommended to follow the BMP’s which specify to cover the pile(s) with a tarp or other water repellant cover as well as encircling the pile with a straw wattle. Straw wattles are tubes of straw (or other material) encased in netting and are meant to prevent debris from entering into the storm drains during rain. Wattles can be purchased at your local irrigation supply store.
During the rainy season, the program takes a Winter Break. Participants who do not have an appointment scheduled on or before October 1st can schedule an appointment the following spring by calling back beginning March 15th.
Supplies are only available while funding lasts.

Supply Limits
A maximum of 15 yards of mulch, 5 yards of compost and 2000 square feet of cardboard will be delivered to single family residential customers. For multifamily and commercial customers, a maximum of 100 yards of mulch, 32 yards of compost and 11 rolls of cardboard will be delivered. Multifamily and commercial accounts will not be given irrigation conversion kits as this is cost prohibitive.

Contact info
Single family and multifamily customers can sign up online for a Water-Wise HouseCall or call (707) 778-4507. Customers who have recently had a Water-Wise HouseCall can call to sign up for the Mulch Madness Program. Commercial customers must call (707) 778-4507 to schedule a representative to perform a site evaluation.