Study finds using less doesn’t compromise quality Emily C. Dooley | Sep 08, 2021 California grape growers in coastal areas can use less water during times of drought and cut irrigation levels without affecting crop yields or quality, according to a new study out of the University of California, Davis. The findings, published today (Sept. 1) in […]
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GLEN MARTINFOR THE PRESS DEMOCRATJune 24, 2021 The drought is intensifying efforts to conserve all of Sonoma County’s water resources, including a supply that has eluded oversight until recently: groundwater. But even as plans for groundwater monitoring and sustainable use proceed, tensions are building over its management. The authority to evaluate and regulate groundwater comes […]
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TYLER SILVY THE PRESS DEMOCRAT January 22, 2021, 4:51PM Hundreds of California wineries will for the first time be governed by statewide wastewater processing rules, a change from the long-held, regional approach that could increase production costs for wineries and protections for waterways while providing consistency for vintners across the state. The move toward a […]
Read MoreConsistent with River Watch’s mission, we are providing the researched article by Ellen Rose because it draws the connection of past and current political corruption with current environmental and social responsibility. Concha Y Toro is a large company that owns Fetzer, Bonterra and other wine brands. When consumers try to select products that have high […]
Read MoreMichael Larrick · September 21, 2018 Image: A concrete lined irrigation ditch runs between grape vines in South Africa’s Western Cape. Flickr user Jason Jones, Creative Commons. In discussions about water shortage, the topic of the human right to water seems to be a key topic of debate. Different countries approach the question of whether individuals should […]
Read MoreUtility PG&E’s Potter Valley Project includes two dams on the Eel River that are up for relicensing. Water diversions into the Russian River for power generation are in jeopardy as salmon and steelhead remain at risk of extinction. Written by Matt Weiser Published on Jan. 29, 2018 Read time Approx. 6 minutes Few people outside Northern California have heard of the […]
Read MoreThe steady expansion of vineyards in California’s premier wine-growing region is moving uphill into oak and other woodlands and is adversely affecting fish and wildlife. Other wine areas, from Oregon’s Willamette Valley to Mendoza in Argentina, are facing similar issues. By Alastair Bland • May 11, 2017 Kellie Anderson stands in the understory of a […]
Read MoreBy Alastair Bland Tyler Heck remembers the summer days that often sent him down the hill from his family’s home off Erland Road and into the cool waters of Van Buren Creek for relief. He remembers diving into the water and swimming, even in July and August. It was the 1980s. Heck, now 32, says […]
Read MoreHundreds of drinking-water wells across California’s San Joaquin Valley have been found to contain 1,2,3-trichloropropane, a likely human carcinogen. This month, the state has taken a big step forward in regulating the chemical. Carlos Arias is asked by many residents in the small town of Del Rey, California, if the water is safe to drink. […]
Read MoreFebruary 27, 2017 In April of last year we posted an interview televised on Ring of Fire about the high levels of inorganic arsenic in wines: (http://winewaterwatch.org/2016/04/first-they-found-toxic-glyphosate-in-wine-and-now-arsenic/) and noted that a lawsuit was going to be filed. Wine labeling laws let the wine producers hide alot of additives, arsenic being one for color, smell and flavor […]
Read Moreby Stett Holbrook December 07, 2016 Sonoma and Napa counties respond differently to new groundwater law Call it a tale of two counties. A new state law requires that local governments regulate groundwater for the first time. Sonoma County has begun a lengthy process to create long-term sustainable groundwater management plans for its at-risk water […]
Read MoreJuly 14, 2016, UBC Okanagan [British Columbia] UBC biologists are digging under vineyards to see if the Okanagan’s grape industry is affecting soil quality. Miranda Hart, an associate professor of biology at UBC’s Okanagan campus, her PhD candidate Taylor Holland, along with Agriculture Canada research scientist Pat Bowen, has spent the better part of three […]
Read Morevommag July 31, 2015 Vol.1 Issue 2 Story: David Bolling Photos: Steven Krause Winemaking is a kind of alchemy because, at a fundamental level, it involves turning water into wine. A lot of water. UC Davis professor Larry Williams studied a test plot of chardonnay grapes in Carneros and calculated that irrigated vines required a […]
Read MoreFebruary 19, 2016 by Sonoma Valley Sun A Sun exclusive by By Will Parrish For at least two decades, Sonoma County officials have sided with the wine industry in nearly every major political dispute. The reason? The industry dominates the county’s economy – and financially dominates county election campaigns. Last spring, Sonoma County supervisors Efren […]
Read MoreThe story of the imperiled California Tiger salamander is a story of incremental and relentless destruction. Californians going about their daily lives may not often think about the destruction of recharge areas necessary to store groundwater, or the loss of floodplains and wetlands that purify and slow rushing waters, but it is happening and the […]
Read MoreTo All, Come to this workshop to Preserve our Rural Character and protect our rural lands from the impacts of EVENTS County Planning Dept. – Public Workshop on Events Monday, November 16, 2015 @ 6:30 pm LOCATION Glaser Center 547 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa 95401 Tasting rooms and wineries co-existed with neighbors for decades – […]
Read MoreTo All, WOW! This could prove to be beneficial for efforts to improve flows. Chris The purpose of this message is to provide information about a new water measurement law which will affect water right holders and diverters who divert more than 10 acre-feet of water per year. The law includes a new reporting requirement […]
Read MoreFollowing is Dr. Laura Morgan’s “Vineyard Infection” letter on the possible coastal invasion by more vineyards, published in today’s PD, as well as my response. The link to read the letters and respond also follows. Let’s keep the pressure on. Since some of you were also at the Timber Cove workshop, this letter opens a […]
Read MoreBY MARY CALLAHAN THE PRESS DEMOCRAT September 13, 2015, 6:51PM Newly drafted guidelines for future development along the Sonoma Coast are inspiring interest and, in some cases, anxiety about potential policy shifts that some fear could alter their cherished coastline for the worse. Land-use activists are especially concerned about broad language on the topic of […]
Read MoreBILL SWINDELL THE PRESS DEMOCRAT August 26, 2015 E&J Gallo is continuing its expansion into the premium wine category, especially the strong pinot noir market, announcing a deal Wednesday to buy a Monterey County winery and 525 acres of highly regarded vineyards. Gallo bought the Talbott Vineyards operations, including the Salinas winery, brand and its Sleepy Hollow […]
Read MoreFollowing is a press alert sent this morning to 100 journalists. It announces Wine and Water Watch’s (www.WineWaterWatch.org) 3 actions this weekend, starting Fri. at 11 a.m. in the Sebastopol plaza gazebo, Fri. late afternoon/eve at the Occidental Farmers Market, and Sun. at the Sebastopol Farmers Market around noon. Please forward this information widely to […]
Read MoreVarious wine industry lobbyists continue to deny what was documented in the booklet “They Myth of the Family Winery: Global Corporations Behind California Wine.” Meanwhile E&J Gallo just bought another winery, as announced below. This follows its recent purchase of the historic Asti winery, Souverain brand, and J Vineyards, with links to articles below. Please […]
Read MoreDear friends in Napa/Sonoma: In March 2015, the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France ruled that the broad-spectrum systemic herbicide glyphosate — the active ingredient in Round-Up — is a likely carcinogen. Studies have linked the herbicide, which is widely used in agribusiness to control weeds, to […]
Read MoreBy Geoffrey Mohan These days, the redwood-shaded creek by Laura and Ray Waldbaum’s house is a bone-dry path of rocks and gravel, its occasional stagnant pools a somber reminder of the salmon that once thrived there. Fewer than 500 endangered coho now wend their way from a network of such creeks to the Russian River […]
Read MoreI 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 MoreTo 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 MoreThe 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 MoreTo 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 MoreApril 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 MoreApril 06, 2015 – Dan Berger John Williams, the visionary Frog’s Leap Winery owner from Rutherford in the Napa Valley, was the most logical go-to person when an idle comment from a shop owner suggested that the wine industry could face water-shortage problems very soon. Williams, ever his contentious self on the topic of vine […]
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