September 16, 2026

Sonoma Vineyard Workers Burn Toward Better Future

Years ago, Anayeli Rodríguez left the hills around Oaxaca, Mexico for the Sonoma vineyards. But however far she’s traveled, the memory of her grandfather pouring a shot of tequila into the soil and asking the earth to bless the coming corn or sugarcane on his farm comes with her. After every harvest, the stubble was burned to prepare the fields for the next season. Now, many workers who left Mexico are bringing those fire practices north. Trained and backed by North Bay Jobs with Justice, a coalition of labor and community groups, more than two dozen of them set out last November to build something of their own: a farmworker-owned co-op to regenerate the land, one fire at a time. Photo: North Bay Jobs with Justice Media

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P O L I C Y

The End is Coming for California’s Untouchable Grass

Just a few months remain before swaths of California grass irrigated with potable water must be eliminated, browned, or converted to less water-intensive landscaping. The impending shift stems from a new state law that prohibits using drinkable water to irrigate “nonfunctional turf,” areas of grass “located within street rights-of-way and parking lots” deemed physically or legally inaccessible to people for basic recreation. The new rule, according to estimates from the Oakland thinktank Pacific Institute, could cut urban water use by more than a fifth. A report from the State Water Resources Control Board adds that grass is “the largest component of vegetation water demand” year-round and statewide. Photo: Toa55

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Regional Housing Agency Invests in Affordability

By all estimates, the Bay Area’s housing affordability crisis is out of control. The median one-bedroom rent in San Francisco reached $4,300 in August, a staggering 26% increase from July 2025 — by far the largest year-over-year rise among 100 cities studied by real estate site Zumper. Recognizing the need for some type of regional collaboration on this issue, the state legislature created the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority in 2019 to design and fund the production and preservation of affordable housing, and the protection of tenants from displacement. But the group’s long-term financial sustainability is uncertain, and it’s currently in the early stages of a plan to bring a funding measure to the November 2028 ballot. Photo: Noah Berger

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D E S I G N

Guide to Nature-Based Infrastructure in the Bay Area

In the Bay Area, as the region confronts rising sea levels and wetter storms, the infrastructure of roads and hardened seawalls that we’ve grown used to is being reinvented. Engineers and scientists are using different materials and designs to make grey infrastructure bluer and greener. To soften the hard edges with plants and more absorbent and moveable materials. This “nature-based” infrastructure isn’t a new thing, but it’s trending. In this new guide, KneeDeep distills the basics about horizontal levees, living seawalls, gravel beaches, and more, and translates technicalities into an easy access explainer on infrastructure resilient to change right here in our backyard. Map: SFEI & Darren Campeau

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New Voices Shape Berkeley's North Basin Strip

While what to do with the vacant East Bay's Golden Gate Fields site has been in the public eye, a neighboring project — just 20 acres squeezed between the highway and the Bay — has recorded an unusually high level of community buy-in. The site, a quiet border of Berkeley known as the North Basin Strip, was often used by dog walkers, bird watchers and fisher folk before the East Bay Park District launched a plan to improve its recreational amenities. The renovation will make the urban park more people- and flood-friendly and better connect public spaces along this stretch of shore. "We've delivered a community vision built from new voices and seasoned stakeholders that's coastal resilient through the end of the century," says landscape architect Peter Trio. Rendering: WRT

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H E A L T H

It’s Always Sunny In North Fair Oaks

Gabriella Valencia is a nurse practitioner who has lived for more than two decades in North Fair Oaks, an unincorporated community sandwiched between wealthy Atherton and Redwood City. Entering the area, a low-income, majority-Hispanic neighborhood that relies on the county for public services, you’ll immediately notice “a total break in the canopy,” says Valencia. But she and over 100 other community members are determined to hold San Mateo County accountable for its tree maintenance — and help the community become greener, cooler, and more resilient in the process. Last month, they launched their second petition in two years calling on county public works to inspect its irrigation systems and plant new trees. Photo: Gaby Valencia

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C H A T T E R

Our September 2026 paper zine is out! The zine offers nine stories in short form, an easy introduction to KneeDeep, and local climate resilience news for the casual reader or busy professional.

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