County approves local frost protection ordinance

Sonoma County passed a wine-industry-friendly vineyard frost
protection ordinance this week despite protests that the public was
left out of the process.
“This was all done in secret,” said Jim Doerksen, a property
owner, farmer and vineyard neighbor on Mark West Creek.
But growers and the County Board of Supervisors said the effort
to hammer out local frost protection rules represents a new chapter
of grower cooperation and educational outreach.
“We’re on the right track,” said one grower this week. 5th
District Supervisor Efren Carrillo agreed, praising the wine
industry for committing to “full compliance” in what is a voluntary
program.
All sides agree the ordinance is at least an attempt to address
the reported fish kills that occur when winegrowers simultaneously
pump river and tributary water to spray their crops to prevent
destruction by frost.
The ordinance, which takes effect in January and will affect
frost protection operations next spring, requires growers who use
River and stream water for frost protection to register with the
county and pay fees to cover the cost of monitoring and
coordinating frost protection operations.
The fee schedule is still on the drawing board and will come
back for board approval in January.
The board unanimously OK’d the new rules despite opponents’
protests that the ordinance was a backroom deal written by the wine
industry with the public left out of the discussion.
“Non-grape growers were kept in the dark,” said environmental
watchdog David Keller, in a written statement delivered to the
board.
The county rules precede anticipated stricter State Water
Resources Control Board (SWRCB) frost water regulations expected to
be in place next year that would outlaw the use of stream water for
frost protection unless users have a state-approved water demand
management program (WDMP) to co-ordinate frost protection
operations and protect fish habitat.
Growers have been scrambling all year to avoid the state rules
they say could force some vineyards out of business rather than
bear the expense to comply.
An economic impact study paid for by Healdsburg winegrower John
Dyson said the state’s ordinance will create catastrophic economic
hardships including loss of jobs, slumping wine revenues and
reduced land values.
As an alternative the local rules will attempt to use a
voluntary program to plug the current regulatory vacuum in which
individual growers pump water out of rivers and streams for frost
protection without knowing how many other vineyard operations are
simultaneously doing the same thing.
Currently there are no county regulations and orchard frost
protection systems “are allowed as a matter of right, with no
permit required at all,” said the county Agricultural
Commissioner’s report to the Board of Supervisors in support of the
county ordnance.
The use of water for frost protection “is one of the most
effective methods of protecting crops from the damaged caused by
freezing temperatures,” said Sonoma County Administrator Veronica
Ferguson in a report to the Board of Supervisors this week.
“However, in the Russian River stream system the use of water can
present a potential conflict” with salmon, in particular Coho
salmon, which are listed as ‘endangered’ under the federal
Endangered Species Act and under the California Endangered Species
Act, and the Chinook salmon, which are listed as “threatened” under
the Endangered Species Act,” said Ferguson in her report.
The new ordinance requires all frost water protection users to
register with the Agricultural Commissioner prior to March 1. The
annual registration will collect survey information “on the nature
of each frost system infrastructure and water diversions,” said
Ferguson.
The survey “will include a description of each water source,
whether from a stream, well or recycled,” said Ferguson’s report.
“For streams, each point of diversion will be mapped and the
capacity of the diversion will be given. For wells, the distance
from the nearest stream, well depth, seal depth and diversion
capacity will be reported.”
“Because the County does not have the resources in-house to
conduct a monitoring and reporting program, it is anticipated that
this component of the program will occur via a contract with an
organized growers group that is representative of the entire
Russian River watershed within Sonoma County,” said Ferguson’s
report.
The growers’ group would subsequently fund an Independent
Science Review Panel (ISRP) to monitor stream gages and provide
technical guidance.
The group will be chaired by Dr. Matt Kondolf, of UC Berkeley,
and will include “a multi-disciplinary group of independent
scientists with expertise in watershed analysis, hydrology,
geomorphology, and salmonid ecology as it pertains to the use of
frost water applications and the protection of the listed fish
species,” said Ferguson’s report.
Leading up to and during the frost season, active monitoring
would take place to identify any problem areas that might occur and
work with property owner to mitigate a potentially harmful use of
water for frost protection.
The collection and use of data and information never-before
available is an essential benefit of the ordinance and program,
said Ferguson.
“By monitoring stream flows, more immediate mitigation of
potentially harmful situations for protected salmonids before a
take occurs is possible, and if a stranding does happen, there will
be information as to whether it was naturally occurring.
Critically, by proactively establishing a local program, it is
staff’s opinion that the County will be positioned to work
collaboratively and within the framework of regulations expected to
be adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board.”