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Growers, regulators craft methods to manage frost water

Posted by: Maven on March 8, 2010 at 8:32 am

From the North Bay Business Journal:

“GEYSERVILLE — Winegrape growers that depend on water in the Russian River Basin to protect their vines from frost assert they have a better idea of how much water they’re using and how to limit such use, while wildlife regulators say they’re getting more precise information of water overuse and tools to curtail it.

That’s what a capacity gathering of 168 vineyard and winery professionals braved an Alexander Valley downpour to hear at a Feb. 26 workshop on the nascent Russian River Frost Program. That program was presented to the State Water Resources Control Board in November as way to cooperatively manage water use similar to Napa Valley’s three-decade-old regime.

Key to that management program are accurate information on the amount of water in the creeks and river at any given time before, during and after frost protection and irrigation as well as a good projection of water demand based on the number of acres using water against frost and the water actually used, according to farm bureau representatives from Mendocino and Sonoma counties. That means knowing how many acres of vines are frost-protected with water and having water and stream gauges to monitor use.

“We can show to the water board we are saving water from the maximum amount of water we could use,” Laurel Marcus, executive director of the California Land Stewardship Institute, said at the workshop, which was hosted by the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission. … “

Read more from the North Bay Business Journal by clicking here.

March 8, 2010 · Filed Under Northern California

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