California vineyard water ban 'will cost economy $2bn a year'

There is no danger of 'taking all the water' out of the Russian River. The aquifer under Alexander Valley is assumed to have at least twice as much water as Lake Sonoma, maybe more. The river is nothing more than the lowest point in the drainage area that has been eroded away over time to expose the top of the water table. It seems like people assume that once that water is pulled out of the ground, it vanishes into thin air. The fact of the matter is that the majority of people with the ability to use water for frost protection are tapped into this vast aquifer under the valley. Also, the majority of vineyards in the valley are on alluvial or river wash soils, which contain high amounts of sand and gravel. All of the water that is pumped out of the ground is right back in the aquifer in a matter of hours.
These endangered fish (Coho/Chinook/Steelhead) like to hang out along the very edges of the streams when they are young, so a temporary drop of 2" in the watercourse is enough to strand these fish.
The REAL threat to these fish are people who are pulling water from tributaries of the Russian River (spawning habitat) which maintain MUCH lower flows during frost season, and CAN de-water in a frost event. Trust me, I have spent hours and hours driving around the county assessing these tribs for the Russian River Frost Coalition, and I can probably count on 1 hand the amount of diversions that actually pose a threat.

The UN Agenda 21 is at play here - the same is happening in Australia right now where irrigators in one of the main food production areas ( the Murray Darling basin ) is tipped to be cut 40%.

Its very clear, the australian govt is hell bent on following the UN Agenda 21 paly book by destroying business in order to "save the planet".

You guys are just seeing the tip of th eiceberg.

I have heard people say its time to re-start tar and feathering politicians.

What these growers need to do is develop is off-line storage (ponds) for the period from January 1 to May 15. They just need to take their frost protection water during high-river-flow times earlier in the year, and store it for a couple of months. It costs money to build reservoirs, and they take up acreage. That is a cost of doing business in this day and age.

The study appears to miss or misstate several items:

- The purpose of State Water Board action would be to coordinate, not halt, frost protection pumping
- Napa wine-grape growers have lived with coordinated frost protection pumping for decades and Napa’s industry is thriving.
- The rule making process is in its early stages. No one can say for sure what potential regulation will look like.
- The Water Board’s Chair has publicly stated his intent is to protect both wine-grape growers and the endangered fish in the Russian River watershed.
- Frost protection diversions depend on weather and geographical conditions, and are short-term events in the Russian River watershed. Some growers are located where frost protection is not necessary. Information provided by growers is that years may elapse between events. A serious frost event in 2008 prompted the National Marine Fisheries Service to ask the State Water Board for emergency regulations. (A request the Board considered and rejected.)
- Water Board staff is considering a number of options including the vineyards building off-stream ponds in order to have water available at necessary instantaneous rates for frost diversions.
- The cost estimates in the study appear to be based on assumptions that are very unlikely to occur. They include assuming that frost diversions will be banned, that frost events will occur on an annual basis and that winery tourists travel to the Russian River area to look at those portions of vineyards prone to frost damage.

The State Water Board will continue to work with and solicit input from stakeholders while it administers California water right laws and protects the environment. Our next public meeting on developing sensible frost protection rules is set for Nov. 17 in Santa Rosa. More information is available at http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/hearings/russian_river_frost/

William L. Rukeyser
Chief, Public Affairs Office
State Water Board
Sacramento

Excellent. There are so many great choices out there for ultrapremium pinot noir that sometimes it's hard to choose. Here's one I can cross off my list of possibilities-- Williams Selyem. If they don't want to be a responsible part of the community, they don't get my $$.

The frost in consideration here is minimal, and for everyone dealing in cooler climate viticulture, this reeks of everything wrong with the mentality of California viticulture. They are not growing oranges, and a certain amount of "rest" is necessary for the vine. What seems to be clearer is the need for California growers to hold on to control of every variable possible and to take understanding of the land and varietal out of the equation. There have been massive restrictions on European growers for years which has fostered one of the big differentiations between new and old world terroir. The western states have gotten comfortable into believing that grapes should be grown wherever open space permits, and are shackled to creating high yields that must be sold at an ultra-premium price. Well, drought reduced the Austarlian wine lake and weeded out the wineries that could survive based on expertise. Maybe California growers, and their wine, can only benefit from a reduction in controlling nature, and a greater understanding of working within its parameters to produce wines of distinction that represent its terroir and not a formula. Most wine regions of the world have much more diverse and demanding extremes in climate that require vast knowledge and patience. Unfortunately, these simply are not virtues here.

While there may be a shortage of water in California as a whole there is no shortage of water in Sonoma County. Domestic users consume no more than 4% of the average rainfall. There is however a shortage of water storage. Every vineyard owner should be allowes to "stock pile" water during our heavy rains. To the nay sayers u should know that during the heavy rains after the ground is saturated the water flows to the ocean and is probably a detriment to the fish!

Fish or people and apparently the fish win, except people eat fish and drink wine, which makes this effort totally absurd. Absolutely unbelievable, it should be fought with all vigor.

Pumping the Russian River dry during the spring or at any time should not be an option for anyone, no matter if they are a small business, a farmer, a vineyard. This has been, or should have been, an illegal activity. There are good alternative methods for frost protection that don't require massive water use. Fans, for instance.

Drastic, ain't it?!
Let's give it some context.
If the SWRCB had done it's job, keeping the amount of water required for various uses and protections in mind when giving out rights, vineyards and orchards' water would have been under control long ago and there would have been less of them approved.

So now the river should be sucked dry? It's supposed to be a river! Flow. Health. Quality.
Creating a toxic sump of the Russian was an unintended consequence. Quality water for downstream users apparently was overlooked.
Across CA the amount of water promised to water rights holders is over eight times as much as exists in an average water year. One half-cup for every quart promised or expected.
And then there's the issues of gulping ground water to everyone's detriments and the Trinity and Eel rivers and their users. Lest we forget.
Also consider the amount of "up to" and "impacted" and "risks" and other qualifiers in this story. What you see is FEAR tactics that focus on WORST CASE.
Get Real.
Thank you.

my understanding is that the two incidents of stranded fish were in 2008 and 2009, and in 2009 the vineyard-at-blame that supposedly drew from the river for frost protection actually lost its crop because it failed to frost protect on or near the date the 6 fish were found dead. despite weak direct evidence of frost and dead fish, businesses are being attacked.