As usual, I was way ahead of myself, but this time the subject is water. I went back and looked at some columns from the 1990s and found I said—many times—that water was going to be the biggest issue to face the wine industry in the years to come. That time has arrived, and I certainly won’t belabor the points you already know. To simplify the problem, it’s fish against grapes, against people. It’s not worth the battle to discuss which is most important. “Logic” would say people, but who said anything about the various government agencies even knowing what that word means? The simplest answer is more rain with the obvious conclusion that we need to be able to store it, which means the construction of more dams, both big and small. Should it even be considered that much of the problem has been brought about by the rapid construction of new homes without any concern where the needed water might come from? Just thought I’d ask.
It’s so ironic that today we hear people suggesting more irrigation ponds (baby reservoirs) to capture and store winter rains. What an absolutely wonderful idea. In the 40 years I was a vineyard consultant, I’ll bet we had 50 irrigation ponds turned down by the Department of Water Resources, because trapping the water would lessen the runoff into the river. In that time, they didn’t blame the poor fish and never really said the large amount of water in the Russian River was needed so they could unload the sewer ponds and stay below the necessary minimum dilution rate. Since the Geysers pipeline has taken care of that problem, now the poor fish are to blame.
I’m an avid trout and steelhead fisherman, so I definitely want to do everything possible to help save them and would agree with some regulations to help—if I thought the powers that be had a clue about what they were doing. Wasn’t there a time (not too long ago) that the water release from Lake Sonoma was increased to help the fish migrate? And now we find out that that wasn’t right, either? I think we’d all be better off if our leaders (?) would admit they aren’t sure what they’re doing and they’re experimenting at our expense. If they’re so concerned about the fish, why don’t we open the season on sea lions for a while and at least stop that form of predation, which I think has a big impact on fish numbers. How about the netting and gillnetting (legal and a great deal of illegal) on the Klamath each year? Yes, Virginia it happens—I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes for the last two years.
It’s very curious that the wheels are concerned about the fish numbers in the river but don’t even raise a finger to help the lake (Sonoma) itself, which has the dubious honor of having the highest man-hours per fish than any other lake in the state. (In other words, damn few fish for a lot of fishermen.) God, I’d love to see Kokanee salmon planted.
Anyway, where do the grape growers fall? The most critical time for growers is early spring when frosts are a problem. Overhead irrigation is by far the best technique to protect against frost in the lower areas, but it requires a great amount of water. About 55 to 60 gallons per minute, per acre, are needed, which adds up to about 16,500 gallons for one acre for a five-hour duration. That, added up with all of the acres needing protection, is one mighty amount. And that’s just for one night.
For growing grapes, the irrigation required varies tremendously depending on rootstock, variety, age, yield, spacing, soil type, canopy system, climate and so forth. But half an acre-foot (one acre-foot equals 326,000 gallons) would be conservative in a warm year. A recent article in The Economist stirred up a boar’s nest when it said it takes 720 liters (190 gallons) of water to produce one bottle of wine. Many grower-type people responded to this and most agree that it only takes 60 to 100 liters (20+ gallons). The winemaking process itself also uses great amounts of water, which wasn’t figured into this. For general planning purposes, it’s probably safe to assume that an acre of grapes will require about an acre-foot of water with frost protection perhaps adding to that. Yes, there are a few vineyards around that are “dry farmed,” but they’re in special soils and are very low-yielding.
If we think we have it bad here, I just returned from a growers meeting in Temecula (near San Diego) where grapes use 1.5 acre-feet of water and wells are illegal. All water used must be purchased through the local water district. Currently, water is costing $450 per acre-foot and will rise to $1,000 by the end of 2010. In other words, a grower will need to pay $1,500 per acre of grapes just for water. Avocados use 4 acre-feet and thus $4,000 per acre. Think the cost of guacamole will rise, or will the trees become firewood? I’d bet on the latter.
Where are we going with all of this? God only knows, and I’m not even sure about that. Added storage facilities seem like one logical answer, but inevitably some idiot group or two will oppose every suggested location because of some hair-brained reason. Remember the extra 10 years and cost escalation that was brought about by lawsuits and protests with the only real reason being the NIMBY attitude? Where would we be today without Lake Sonoma? Some may say better off—but we’d be damn thirsty. How much more added pain shall we stand for before we get smart and start building water storage facilities? As farmers, we could start tomorrow if the permit process was made simple and reasonable. As city dwellers, you better get your act together soon or we’ll really be rationing. Do we want to be as shortsighted and stupid as the Australians and wait until it’s a real disaster before building more dams or even considering them? Will building moratoriums help stop the bleeding? What will happen when our little recession is over and everybody wants to build again?
I have it! Let’s all drink the biggest environmental boondoogle to come along in years—bottled water—and especially plastic bottles. It’s one of the most amazing sights to see a dyed-in-the-wool environmentalist picketing against something, drinking water from a plastic bottle. The environmental footprint of bottled water makes grapes look greener than their leaves.
OK, off to your homework, and check out all of the new screwtops coming on the market. It’s about time.
