Environmentalists are mobilizing in protest of a would-be bill backed by the local wine industry that would create an irrigation district intended to protect the water rights of about 1,000 grape growers in the Russian River region. Noting that Sonoma County is facing “urgent water supply” problems unique to the Russian River watershed, the legislation […]
Read MoreCategory: Food Agriculture Impacting Water
Wine Industry Impacts: Wine and Water Watch (WWW)
I began sending out my article on the founding of the Wine and Water Watch (WWW) group yesterday. It has already been published in at least the following places, which include India and Virginia. It will likely be published elsewhere in the next few days. If you google the words “wine and water watch” with […]
Read MoreNASA Groundwater Subsidence Report: Drought Causing Valley Land to Sink
August 19, 2015 Maven Maven note: Headline is the one issued with the press release. It should perhaps more properly be: “Groundwater Subsidence Causing Valley Land to Sink” From the Department of Water Resources: As Californians continue pumping groundwater in response to the historic drought, the Department of Water Resources today released a new NASA […]
Read MoreA Solution for California’s Water Woes
During the drought, the state has failed to safeguard water supplies and the environment, and now there’s a growing call to finally fix California’s archaic “water rights” system. By Will Parrish In a decision bursting with symbolism, the California State Water Resources Control Board recently announced its intention to draw down the main water supply […]
Read MoreSonoma County Well Ordinance Hearing, July 21, 2 pm
To All, There is a public hearing on a Sonoma County well ordinance that has important ramifications on new well development that will impact water availability. Permit and Resource Management (PRMD), 2550 Ventura Avenue, Santa Rosa CA July 21 2:00 p.m. Item 74- Conduct a Public Hearing and Adopt a Resolution – Adopt a Resolution, […]
Read MoreCalifornia’s ‘relentless’ drought has taken a dire turn
Fenit Nirappil and Scott Smith, Associated Press Jun. 12, 2015 As California grapples with a relentless drought, state regulators on Friday ordered farmers and others who hold some of the strongest water rights in the state to stop all pumping from three major waterways in one of country’s prime farm regions. The order involving record cuts by […]
Read MoreComment on California’s Drought Response
To All, There are many facets that must be considered if were are to find solution(s) to our water supply and drought issues. Of course, bottom line, we all must conserve. That means every person, business, or industry. Agriculture is not living up to their responsibility in the area of conservation. Agriculture, via the California […]
Read MoreCalifornia Cuts Farmers’ Share of Scant Water
By JENNIFER MEDINA, JUNE 12, 2015 LOS ANGELES — Farmers with rights to California water dating back more than a century will face sharp cutbacks, the first reduction in their water use since 1977, state officials announced Friday. The officials said that rights dating to 1903 would be restricted, and that such restrictions would grow as […]
Read MoreSome addresses may be hidden as California well reports become public
By Ryan Sabalow rsabalow@sacbee.com After more than six decades of secrecy, the reports that water well drillers file with the state are set to become public under a bill signed into law this week. But because of privacy concerns, it’s still not clear whether the public will get to see the precise locations of the […]
Read MoreCalifornia Is Literally Sinking Into the Ground
And it’s going to cost taxpayers big time. Nathan Halverson Jun. 10, 2015 This story was originally published by Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and is republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. California is sinking—and fast. While the state’s drought-induced sinking is well known, new details highlight just how severe it has become and how little […]
Read MoreWine Empire Compared to Coal Industry
Various people challenging the Wine Empire have described it as an extractive industry. It uses a lot of water and land in industrializing, urbanizing, and commercializing ways. Most of its benefits leave the North Coast into the hands of investors, increasingly from China and elsewhere. Most of the costs are paid by locals, especially those […]
Read MoreTurning Water into Wine
The unregulated growth of California’s wine industry in the state’s coastal regions is depleting groundwater supplies and devastating rivers and fisheries. By Will Parrish Along the border of Sonoma and Napa counties, roughly seven miles northeast of Santa Rosa, hydrologist and forester Jim Doerksen took me to the southeastern end of his house, where he […]
Read MoreVineyards Comment Regarding Too Many Straws
To All, When I moved to Sonoma County 30 years ago, I loved the vineyards…but they were all dry farmed back then. Over the years I have watched in dismay, then horror, at the forest-to-vineyard conversions, as the non-food ag spread like a cancer across the land. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is also […]
Read MoreWILL PARRISH: Too Many Straws In the Russian
Will Parrish May 15, 2015 Ukiah, TheAVA On April 21st, officials with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the State Water Resources Control Board sent joint letters to property owners in four of the Russian River’s largest tributaries imploring them to conserve water on behalf of a federally-listed endangered species: Coho salmon. Its […]
Read MoreCalifornia’s Thirsty Wine-Grapes
April 17, 2015 – WILL PARRISH Ukiah – TheAVA In the San Joaquin Valley heartland town of Livingston, located along Highway 99 between Turlock and Merced, the United States’ most lucrative wine corporation, E&J Gallo, operates the world’s largest winery: a place where serried ranks of massive, 200,000-gallon tanks tower over the surrounding countryside, in […]
Read MoreThirsty crops should require state regulation
George Skelton, Los Angeles Times This is what the Brown administration isn’t talking about as it tightens the spigot on landscaping: Urban use accounts for only 20% of California’s developed water. Agriculture sucks up 80%. Some calculate it a little differently: 10% urban, 40% agriculture and 50% environment — meaning every drop in the rivers […]
Read MoreComment on the Problem of CA Water and Drought
There are many facets that must be considered if were are to find solution(s) to our water supply and drought issues. Of course, bottom line, we all must conserve. That means every person, business, or industry. Agriculture is not living up to their responsibility in the area of conservation. Agriculture, via the California Farm Bureau […]
Read MoreHow Growers Gamed California’s Drought
Consuming 80 percent of California’s developed water but accounting for only 2 percent of the state’s GDP, agriculture thrives while everyone else is parched. “I’ve been smiling all the way to the bank,” said pistachio farmer John Dean at a conference hosted this month by Paramount Farms, the mega-operation owned by Stewart Resnick, a Beverly […]
Read MoreBeneath California Crops, Groundwater Crisis Grows
By JUSTIN GILLIS and MATT RICHTEL APRIL 5, 2015 Even as the worst drought in decades ravages California, and its cities face mandatory cuts in water use, millions of pounds of thirsty crops like oranges, tomatoes and almonds continue to stream out of the state and onto the nation’s grocery shelves. But the way that […]
Read MoreCalifornia’s Drought is a Crisis
To All, California’s drought is a crisis. According to NASA scientist Jay Famiglietti, California has only one year of water left in its reservoirs.1 Incredibly, the state has no plan that even begins to adequately address a crisis of this magnitude. “California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one (let alone […]
Read MoreVine Notes: Plan Ahead for Major Stormwater Rule Changes
January 27, 2015 By Mathew Swain Existing compliance may not be sufficient After 13 years of deliberation and drafting, the new Industrial General Stormwater Permit takes effect July 1. The new permit requires major changes in the way that businesses engaged in industrial activities plan for, monitor and control pollution in rainwater runoff. Companies should […]
Read MoreStatewide Mercury Program for Ag Community
FYI, to all Activists, Dear member of California’s agricultural community, The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) is distributing this notice to share information about a Statewide Mercury Program being developed. The goal of the Statewide Mercury Program is to establish statewide water quality objectives and a control program to address elevated levels […]
Read MoreState Water Board Comments on Sproul Creek Inspection
By Adrian Baumann, abaumann@willitsnews.com 2/19/15 Plans for the multi-agency task force, including the California Water Board and Department of Fish and Wildlife, aiming to regulate marijuana growing in the state continue to evolve. The task force conducted January inspections of marijuana grows on Sproul Creek in southern Humboldt County. The group is still refining its […]
Read MoreThe Delta Smelt: A Tiny Fish with Big Implications
By Trent Orr, January 21, 2015 The delta smelt is a fish that grows to no more than three inches in length, but over the years this threatened species has made big headlines in California’s dusty, water-rights battleground. One congressional representative, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), is even on record as calling the smelt a “stupid […]
Read MoreClimate Change Impacts on Vineyards, Wildlife Habitat & Natural Resources
April 29, 2013 by Renata Brillinger A study entitled Climate Change, Wine, and Conservation published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences predicts that by 2050 the climate change impacts on the viability of wine grape production will be substantial and varied by geographic region. While many such projections focus primarily on the impacts on […]
Read MoreNMFS Letters on Riparian and Well Issues for Sonoma County
Hi folks: These letters are important insofar as they are from the National Marine Fisheries Service and speak to the rules the County relies upon to govern development and the impacts of those rules in their land use decisions with respect to riparian vegetation and waterways. The letters reinforce what is needed in the County […]
Read MoreModernizing drought water allocations
UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, October 16, 2014 The State Water Resources Control Board recently solicited public comments on how to improve its drought curtailment of water rights. Here is a summary of insights and recommendations from a group of seven California water experts. By Ellen Hanak, Jeffrey Mount, Jay Lund, Greg Gartrell, Brian Gray, Richard […]
Read MoreNMFS Comment Letters on Sonoma County Land Use Practice
To All, These attached letters are important insofar as they are from the National Marine Fisheries Service and speak to the rules Sonoma County relies upon to govern development and the impacts of those rules in their land use decisions with respect to riparian vegetation and waterways. The letters reinforce what is needed in the […]
Read MoreInvitation by Interviewee to See Russian River Movie
Come see and support this beautiful movie. Ok, I’m a bit biased, but this is indeed beautifully produced and filmed – and it is very important and timely. And, yes, there are a number of fabulous interviews with a wide range of water and river people. Thanks! David Keller
Read MoreCalifornia’s New Groundwater Law: An Interactive Timeline
Hi Folks — This information comes from the Legal Planet website. They put up an interactive timeline, which I have translated into a table. CA Groundwater Law Timeline Jane legal-planet.org California’s New Groundwater Law: An Interactive Timeline What are the major deadlines for local groundwater management agencies, and when can-or must-state agencies act? Posted on […]
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