“On June 23, 2020, Water Audit California sent the following extraordinary letter to the Napa County Planning Commission, staff, county counsel, and the State Department of Fish and Wildlife. The authors raise a number of issues regarding the processing of the Bremer matter that should be of concern to all of us. We feel compelled to share it with you.” [Read more]
WAC’s letter to Napa Planning re Bremer Winery’s application for exception to conservation regulations
“Water Audit has two concerns herein: (1) the preservation of the Napa County stream
setback provision, and (2) the application of proper policies and practices considering environmental
matters. Water Audit believes that riparian ways should be seen as sacred ground, an essential
foundation of the community’s environmental health.”
Introducing: The Refugia Project
The Refugia Project arose from the Forum’s first principle: In Data We Trust. An early-stage work-in-progress, The Refugia Project is organizing, making accessible and actionable the enormous amount of open source data already available about the Napa Valley ecosystems. Take a first look and then revisit the website once in a while to see how the research evolves. Comments and suggestions are encouraged. https://therefugiaproject.org
2020 Napa Water Forum update
Three months ago, a coalition of public interest organizations hosted the 2020 Napa Water Forum, with generous support from leading Napa wineries. The Forum introduced an innovative environmental management strategy. Recognizing the complexity of water allocation in our state, Active Management gives voice to all beneficial users while at the same time recognizing the existential urgency of coming into balance with nature. A panel of distinguished experts spoke on the history of Napa’s relationship with its watercourse, its unique opportunities in the future, the principles of environmental reconciliation, and the highly topical subject of groundwater management and its relationship to surface flows. Two experts on community engagement informed attendees how to arrive at consensus decisions in a Master Class that should perhaps be revisited by the newly formed Groundwater Sustainability Agency.
Water Audit California has now posted a complete record of the proceeding for those who were unable to attend, (or attendees who want a refresher course) including a HD video, a video linked transcript, portraits of attendees, and a downloadable library of supporting documents. https://waterauditca.org/napa-water-forum
Thanks to our speakers, co-sponsors, and wonderful audience, the water forum at Native Sons Hall was a great success. We appreciate the role you’re playing in changing how Napa approaches water issues.
The Napa Valley Register’s Barry Eberling wrote an article about the event which we feel captured the tone and content of the event. Give the piece a read here: Watershed forum looks to defuse Napa County water issues
Watershed forum looks to defuse Napa County water issues
“Various environmentalists are saying that the old adage about “water being for fighting over” doesn’t have to apply to Napa County. The group called Water Audit California has used lawsuits to pry water releases from local reservoirs for fish and has threatened a groundwater-related lawsuit against Napa County. The group last week co-sponsored a forum to suggest another way.” [Read more]
2020 Water Forum Panelists
Dr. Peter Moyle
Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and associate director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, UC Davis.
Dr. Moyle is author or co-author of more than 250 publications, including Inland Fishes of California (2002) and “Suisun Marsh: ecological history and possible futures” co-authored with Amber Manfree and Peggy Fielder (2014 UC Press). His most recent book is “Floodplains: processes and management for ecosystem services“, with Jeff Opperman as the lead author and Amber Manfree, Joan Florsheim, and Eric Larsen as coauthors (2017, UC Press).
He has served on numerous advisory bodies, including the Ecosystem Restoration Program Science Board of the California Bay-Delta Authority and the National Research Council Panel on the Klamath River. His research interests include conservation of aquatic species, habitats, and ecosystems; ecology of fishes of the San Francisco Estuary; ecology of California stream fishes; impact of introduced aquatic organisms (novel ecosystems); use of floodplains by fish; and reconciliation ecology.
Dr. Ted Grantham
Cooperative Extension Specialist and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley. CalTrout Ecosystem Fellow with the Water Policy Center of the Public Policy Institute of California.
Dr. Grantham is an eco-hydrologist interested in the impacts of human activities on river ecosystem health. His extension activities are focused on the translation of research into sustainable, cost-effective solutions for managing water and the environment. Lead author of Systematic Screening of Dams for Environmental Flow Assessment and Implementation, with co-authors Dr. Moyle and Joshua Viers, and the California WaterBlog article “California water rights: You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” He has a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley’s Department of Science, Policy and Management.
Teri Jo Barber
Registered Hydrologist, American Institute of Hydrology
Ms. Barber uses her expertise in hydrology and storm water management in her design and restoration work in northern California wildland rivers, streams, and wetlands. Her bioengineering projects on erosion and sediment control challenges utilize natural materials that enhance ecological productivity while repairing streambank failures, stabilizing landslides, and reversing hillslope gullies. She has experience evaluating municipal sourcewater quality, in permitting construction projects, and in construction management. Teri Jo has more than 24 years of experience implementing bioengineering projects in streams of Northern California using rocks, large wood, small wood, brush, straw, and native plants. Using images of field conditions with personal experience, she will discuss the challenges facing Napa County in relation to dynamic surface water/groundwater interface. She has an M.S. Watershed Management and a B.Sc. in Water Quality from Humboldt State University, certification as a professional surface water hydrologist through American Institute of Hydrology, and a stormwater designer certification through the Northcoast Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Dr. Douglas (Gus) Tully
Lead developer of the Scott Valley Integrated Hydrologic Model
Dr. Tully’s doctoral research focused on groundwater-surface-water interactions in agricultural groundwater basins with groundwater dependent ecosystems. He has experience with development, sensitivity analysis, calibration, and uncertainty analysis of integrated hydrologic models. He was one of the lead developers of the Scott Valley Integrated Hydrologic Model (SVIHM), which is currently being used to formulate the groundwater sustainability plan for the basin. He has a B.S. in geology from UC Santa Barbara, a M.S. in hydrology from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and a Ph.D. in hydrology from UC Davis.
Rich Pauloo
Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, UC Davis
Mr. Pauloo is a PhD Candidate in physical hydrogeology at UC Davis researching emerging regional-scale threats to aquifers, such as nonpoint source contamination and domestic well failure. He will discuss the use of tools from geostatistics, 3D groundwater flow and contaminant transport, statistical/machine learning, optimization, calibration, and mathematical modeling to explain and forecast the behavior of hydrologic systems. He was recently awarded a top prize in the 2019 California Water Data Challenge by the state of California for his work on making water quality data accessible.
He will explain how drought and unsustainable groundwater management have negatively impacted communities in California’s Central Valley, and what Napa can learn from these case studies when planning for basin-scale integrated surface and groundwater management. The role of data acquisition and analysis using remote sensor networks, data science, data visualization/communication, and open source software will also be discussed.
Rich Marovich
Putah Creek Streamkeeper
Mr. Marovich has been the Putah Creek Streamkeeper since 2000, leading complex and cooperative projects to protect the resources of Lower Putah Creek. He has won over $12 million in competitive grants for physical and biological studies, community planning and habitat enhancement projects including: abating and deterring trespass and illegal dumping; controlling invasive weeds; stabilizing eroding banks; restoring natural channel form and function; and establishing native vegetation. He also manages a native plant nursery staffed with community volunteers. His prior experience includes 25 years with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation leading a statewide program to protect listed species from pesticide exposure.
Dennis Bowker
Environmental Facilitator
Mr. Bowker was the winner (1994) of the Environmental Law Institute National Wetlands Award for his work at the Napa Resource Conservation District. The principal author of the Napa Hillside Vineyard Development Manual and the Napa River Watershed Integrated Resource Management Plan, his watershed projects have included such major wineries as the Robert Mondavi Winery, Buena Vista Vineyards, Comaine Chandon, the Sterling Winery, and the Carnerios Quality Alliance. As a consultant and facilitator through the federal government’s US Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, he provided leadership to collaborative efforts to manage and resolve public and private environmental conflicts nationwide, and in Asia, South America and Europe.
Announcing the 2020 Napa Water Forum
“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”
~ Albert Einstein
Growers and Vintners for Responsible Agriculture, Napa Vision 2050 and Water Audit California present
WE MANAGE WHAT WE MEASURE:
A NAPA WATER FORUM
Friday, February 7, 2020 at NOON
Concerned residents of Napa County seek to protect the natural environment from further degradation. Multi-layered federal, state and local agencies seek to apply a complex web of statutes, ordinances, regulations, principles and practices to constrain harm to the public trust, while an entire industry of “entitlement” advocates seek to extract individual benefit from the public commons. The entire process is mired in a stalemate of expensive controversy.
Napa County has the opportunity to lead the way with environmental reconciliation. We submit for your consideration a new vision of the future proposed by the prestigious Public Policy Institute that is founded on good science, best practices, and adaptive management.
We are hosting a forum with a distinguished panel of experts who are non-political, unbiased purveyors of the facts. The experts will discuss the evolution of a new conflict-free approach to examining the relationship between development and the environment, the field conditions in the Napa watershed, and the most recent technology in measuring and modeling. We will present the testimonial of a successful streamkeeper, and a how-to-do-it discussion led by a world class environmental facilitator.
All interested persons are welcome. Seating is limited. Gates will open at noon. The presentations begin at 1:00 and will be followed by a hosted reception to allow for informal discussions and networking. Directions to the private venue at the Napa Airport will be emailed to you after your registration.
Update: Feb 4, 2020
Due to the large number of participants, we have overwhelmed the on-site parking at the venue and will be using the Napa County Airport general parking lot for our event. Starting at noon a shuttle bus will take you to the venue a short distance away. Look for the white canopy indicating the pick up point. The shuttle bus will have Water Audit’s logo on the door. Please allow an extra few minutes for this process.
There is limited handicap parking at the venue. After entering the airport turn left on Airport Road and continue to Gate 4, where security will direct you to our hangar.
Update: Feb 6, 2020
Registrations for our Napa Water Forum were much greater than the airport venue could properly accommodate. We have been able to relocate at the same time and date into the historic (1915) Native Sons building, which is located in downtown Napa, directly across the street from the municipal parking garage. The building is handicap accessible.
Please re-calibrate your navigation devices to 937 Coombs Street, on the corner of First Street, in Napa, California, 94559. Doors will still open at noon February 7, 2020, and the presentations will begin at 1 p.m., but no shuttle is required.
WAC warns Napa County of litigation over winery permitting deregulation
“Water Audit cannot, however, remain silent about the proposed Ordinance, as that legislation that appears to pose a direct threat to interests of the public trust. Recent events and research have elevated our concerns to outright alarm. …We see no discussion in the Board of Supervisor’s record of the impact that these identified new demands will have on the public trust. To the contrary, in its comment on the Ordinance the Center for Biological Diversity set forth an estimation of the water demands of the potential additional winery authorized capacity – a volume that far exceeds the bypass volume that Water Audit has worked so hard to obtain.”
Napa County’s winery streamlining plan faces legal threat
“Napa County intends to cut red tape for what it deems to be modest winery expansion requests, even though a group called Water Audit California warned of possible legal action.
County officials said the goal is simply to move consideration of more routine decisions from the Planning Commission to county staff, such as adding a few employees or a certain amount of wine production. Environmental rules and public noticing will still apply.
But Water Audit California is expressing concern that streamlining could hurt streams and fish.” [Read more]
[Court Record] WATER AUDIT CALIFORNIA v. NEVADA IRRIGATION DISTRICT
Water Audit California has filed suit against the Nevada Irrigation District’s Hemphill Diversion Facility (Hemphill Dam) alleging it “is an unlawful stream obstruction and an unlawful manner of diversion”. The suit seeks a court order to “compel the respondent to remediate the Hemphill Dam’s impairment to fish passage, and to cease the unlawful kill of fish caused by the inadequate manner of diversion.”
As Yountville reservoir falls, state studies supply – and possible water purchases from Napa
“YOUNTVILLE — Even with California’s lengthy drought in the rear-view mirror, the reservoir feeding Yountville and the Veterans Home of California is running low. Just how low may determine what the town – and state regulators – do to curb water use and boost supplies as the dryness of summer approaches.
New monitoring equipment at Rector Reservoir northeast of Yountville suggests water levels are falling at such a rate that the state Department of Veterans Affairs, which owns both the reservoir and the Veterans Home, should plan for a possible shortfall in the middle of August as a precaution, according to CalVet Secretary Vito Imbasciani.” [Read more]
After environmental lawsuit, St. Helena agrees to bypass more water into creek
“ST. HELENA — The City Council has approved a short-term plan to bypass more water from Bell Canyon Reservoir into Bell Creek, in response to a lawsuit claiming that the city has degraded fish habitat in the creek by historically capturing too much water in the reservoir.
The council also approved contracts to install equipment measuring how much water the city diverts from Bell Creek, and to conduct studies that will lay the groundwork for a permanent bypass plan within the next 12 to 18 months.” [Read more]
St. Helena threatened with lawsuit over stalled dam removal
“ST. HELENA — An environmental advocacy group that sued the city last year over water diversion at Bell Canyon Reservoir is now threatening a separate lawsuit over the long delay in the removal of the Upper York Creek Dam. Grant Reynolds of Water Audit California, a public benefit corporation, wrote a letter to the city on Feb. 11 requesting various city records involving the dam, and followed up two days later with a letter threatening to sue “to compel the city to action.” The dam has been declared a barrier to fish passage, and its removal has been on the city’s to-do list since at least 1993 when, in response to a state lawsuit, the city agreed to a court order pledging to remove the dam by Nov. 1, 1993. The order was lifted in 2001 to help the city apply for grant funding, and in 2010 the city entered into a settlement agreement with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries pledging to remove the dam by 2012.”[Read More]
Lawsuit demands monitoring, fish protection at Yountville-area reservoir
“The reservoir serving Yountville and the neighboring Veterans Home of California has become the latest Napa County water source to be targeted in court for allegedly siphoning excessive water and damaging fish habitats.
A lawsuit filed by Water Audit California demands a curtailing of water diversions to Rector Reservoir, which is owned by the state Department of Veterans Affairs and provides water to both the military retirement home west of Yountville and to the town itself.” [Read more]
City of St. Helena sued over water diversion
“An environmental advocate who filed a claim against the city of St. Helena in May has now sued the city for allegedly failing to bypass enough water into Bell Creek.
According to a lawsuit filed Aug. 10 in Napa Superior Court by Water Audit California, the city has violated state regulatory limits on the diversion of water into Bell Canyon Reservoir, one of the city’s primary water sources, and failed to install state-mandated equipment to monitor water flows at Bell Canyon dam.” [Read more]