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Spring 2002 Newsletter
General Winery News Winemaking News Special Report Uncorked! From our Hospitality Staff New Releases Awards and Reviews Personnel Corner |
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Watershed Task Force Provides Blueprint for
For more than five years Napa County officials, grape growers and environmental groups have engaged in discussions, often contentious, over the health of the Napa River watershed and proposed remedies whose purpose would be to remove the Napa River from the Federal Register of Impaired Waterways.
A Watershed Task Force, comprised of a broad range of Napa County special interest groups, was assembled in 1999 and released a final report with specific recommendations in 2001. These Task Force recommendations provide the framework for a new County ordinance, currently being drafted, which will establish new environmental standards for vineyard development and replanting. Napa County enjoys an established record of environmental sensitivity that dates back to the Agricul-tural Preserve of 1968. In large measure, the Ag Preserve successfully positioned the production of world renowned wines as the highest and best use of land in Napa County and provided a practical defense against the kind of urban encroachment that has claimed other agricultural lands in close proximity to the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1991, the County adopted a Hillside Ordinance, the first of its kind in the United States, to deal with erosion concerns related to hillside development. From my perspective, the current debate is framed by a desire to do more than provide new environmental protections. New measures carry additional responsibility of restoring the Napa Valley watershed to a condition that will sustain invertebrate populations of steelhead trout, Chinook salmon, and California freshwater shrimp. These species have declined at alarming rates and are significant indicators of the overall health of the watershed. The new ordinance, along with continued environmental study, is needed to further the process of renewal. Extremists, however, will not be satisfied and there are powerful means of obstruction at their disposal. Lawsuits, public initiatives, and CEQA challenges provide adequate opportunity to keep the County in a quagmire of delay. For some, defeating agriculture has become a greater goal than protection and restoration of the watershed. However, their credentials for stewardship are in question and their ability to lead very much in doubt. Fortunately, Napa County has a clear and present mandate for progress through formal adoption of the Watershed Task Force recommendations. |
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