Advocates for the Public Trust
Residents of St. Helena have seen their water bills soar to more than twice the county’s average over the last 23 years with minimal improvement of services. Proposition 218 requires utility rate studies every five years as justification for rate increases. In St. Helena, these studies have shown consistently that the city is in desperate …
Continue reading “St. Helena Residents are Paying for Inept Government Services, Not Water”
Capital facilities need money, but what happened to the money that the taxpayers had already dedicated? A thorough independent examination of the city’s financial practices and infrastructure needs is imperative. The current approach of merely issuing bonds to maintain the status quo is unsustainable and does a disservice to residents. It’s time for transparency, accountability, and meaningful action to address St. Helena’s endemic water management challenges.
“[T]he urgency of Climate Change requires a paradigm shift towards managing our water, preserving our carbon-sequestering and cooling forests, protecting the essential viability of our existing vineyards, and conserving the rare biodiverse hot spot that is Napa Valley.”
It was the third consecutive year that pumping exceeded the Napa Valley sub-basin’s sustainable yield of 15,000 acre-feet.
Ideas flowed at a recent forum on how to manage Napa Valley water, which is the lifeblood for local cities, world-famous wine country and the environment.
The speakers list and agenda for the Napa Water Forum 2023, to be held at 1:00 p.m. on March 24 at 937 Coombs Street in Napa, California.
The Napa Water Forum will continue as scheduled, despite the County CEO’s prohibition on employees presenting their work or attending.
Water Forum 2023 will be held on March 24, 2023. Presenters will speak to the future of county-wide integrated water and wastewater systems.
In March 2023, Water Audit and Save Napa Valley Foundation will cohost the 2023 Napa Water Forum – The Refugia Project to share our findings and proposals with the public.
A push has begun to remove or remediate fish barriers in Napa County. The Napa County Resource Conservation District and Water Audit California have come up with a list of 51 barriers that, if removed, would open up more than 250 miles of spawning habitat.
“The Lake Marie reservoir, created in the late 19th century as part of a Napa State Hospital water mini-empire, might in the 21st century help locally rare steelhead trout. Water Audit California has used lawsuits to try to gain more water from local reservoirs for downstream fish habitat. In this case, the California Department of …
Continue reading “Napa’s Lake Marie dam to release water for fish under 1915 law”
A Water Audit California report suggests placing “rock vanes” in the Napa River to shape water flows and create channels more supportive of fish and aquatic life.
A settlement agreement ending litigation between the California Department of State Hospitals and Water Audit California that was announced today will improve conditions for fish in Cayetano Creek while allowing Skyline Park visitors to continue to enjoy Lake Marie as a hiking destination. This resolution is representative of two principles: we can manage what we measure, and we can always do better. This settlement is the next step in Water Audit’s Napa Valley remediation program that has so far included securing dam bypasses from Kimball, Rector, Bell Canyon dams, and the removal of obstructions to spawning in Garnet and York Creeks.
The video below was recorded at the Napa County Groundwater Sustainability Public Meeting #2, on Sep 29 2021, 6:00 PM–7:30 PM, for Water Audit California by Israel Valencia of Infinity Visuals.
The video below was recorded at the Napa County Groundwater Sustainability Public Meeting #1, on Sep 22 2021, 6:00 PM–7:30 PM, for Water Audit California by Israel Valencia of Infinity Visuals.
If you missed one or both of the Napa County Groundwater Sustainability Public Meetings on September 22nd and September 29, you can now watch them on the Water Audit California website.
The Planning Commission last week approved the 20,000-gallon-a-year winery. The planned 4,638-square-foot building at 2072 Mount Veeder Road will replace a house and barn that burned in the 2017 Nuns fire… Water Audit California, meanwhile, urged the county to deny the application. Grant Reynolds of the group wrote that Pickle Canyon Creek runs through the …
Continue reading “Mount Veeder winery wins Napa County approval”
“The current scale of wine production, driven in part by global business interests, is impossible to support as the megadrought continues. It is time to accept this new reality, to get our land use and water policies in order, and to focus on learning from people who are pouring their time, money and energy into finding new and more sustainable ways to live with our changing environment.”
“In Napa Valley, the lush heartland of America’s high-end wine industry, climate change is spelling calamity. Not outwardly: On the main road running through the small town of St. Helena, tourists still stream into wineries with exquisitely appointed tasting rooms. …But drive off the main road, and the vineyards that made this valley famous — …
Continue reading “Scorched, Parched, and Now Uninsurable: Climate Change Hits Wine Country”
A week ago, we filed a lawsuit against the County of Napa for Negligent Breach of Trustee Duties and related issues. We’ve decided to publish the full text so you can read our reasons for yourselves.
The City of Napa has panned the County of Napa’s Draft Environmental Impact Report for the KJS Investment & Sorrento, Inc. Vineyard Conversion, concluding that “The absence of any real water supply impacts analysis renders the DEIR deficient.” Full document attached.
“Water Audit California is suing to make Napa County increase oversight of groundwater pumping for vineyards, wineries, and other uses, claiming that the pumping affects the Napa River. The lawsuit said the county has a “public trust” duty to care for the river. The idea is that too much groundwater pumping from wells can keep …
“The City of St. Helena has agreed to monitor local groundwater levels and stream flows, averting a potential lawsuit from an environmental advocacy group. Following months of negotiations, the city and Water Audit California released a joint statement Friday announcing the city will collect monthly water levels and annual extraction totals for local wells and …
Continue reading “City of St. Helena reaches agreement with water watchdog group”
“Bremer Family Winery found a bright spot in its long tussle with the county over what’s legal on the Deer Park property — it can keep a masonry barn and a bathroom built within a stream setback. In an appeals hearing on Dec. 8, the county Board of Supervisors agreed to overturn a Planning Commission …
Continue reading “By a 3-2 vote, Napa County agrees Bremer Winery barn can stay”
“CALISTOGA — Stemming from litigation dating back to 2008, the City of Calistoga is confronted again with a long-standing threat from an environmental group over the operation of Kimball Dam. Grant Reynolds, a director of Water Audit California, delivered a letter to the City of Calistoga on Monday criticizing the city for not fulfilling its …
Continue reading “Water environmental group threatens Calistoga with lawsuit, again”
“ST. HELENA — An environmental advocacy group is threatening to sue the City of St. Helena over its handling of groundwater. Grant Reynolds, a director of Water Audit California, delivered a letter to the city on Monday criticizing its use of the Stonebridge wells for municipal use and “a pattern of exercising no discretion” in …
Continue reading “Environmental group threatens to sue St. Helena over groundwater extraction”
Water Audit California is pleased to announce that our inspectors have observed water flowing at the site of the recently-removed York Creek dam in Napa. Local authorities had stalled on the court-ordered removal of this dam for a decade until WAC began enforcement action in 2017. Removal activities began earlier this summer and WAC can confirm that the passage is now clear in time for winter rains.
“The recent removal of the sediment-filled York Dam in Napa County has reconnected two miles of steelhead trout habitat that has been blocked for over a century. While the dam itself was small and non-functional, it took nearly 30 years to accomplish removal. Thousands of barriers to stream flow and fish passage similar in size …
Continue reading “Small Dam, Big Deal: York Dam Removed in Napa Valley”
Responding to concerns filed by Water Audit California, Farmstead Lodge promised that approval of its well permits requests would decrease their demand on groundwater by approximately 50%.
“As a response to the recent devastating events in Napa County, Water Audit Californiahas expanded our remit to include fire as an essential component of the environment. We havesecured the advice of a leading scholar on the subject and are in the process of assemblinganother outstanding advisory subcommittee.”
“In a quiet corner of Napa County, tucked away in the hills above its famous valley, a bucolic trickle of a creek is now flowing free after languishing behind a dam for more than a century. The waters of York Creek began their unabated journey to the Napa River on Sept. 14 for the first …
Continue reading “York Creek Dam Removal Sets Stage For Environmental Restoration In Napa”
“Another Bremer Family Winery brouhaha, this one over a barn and other structures built too close to a stream, landed in the laps of Napa County planning commissioners with the subtlety of a live grenade. The Planning Commission on Wednesday decided by separate votes that two structures can stay and two must go. John and …
Continue reading “Napa County gives split decision in Bremer winery stream case”
“The St. Helena City Council awarded a $3.2 million contact this week to an Arcata firm to remove the Upper York Creek Dam. McCullough Construction will be charged with notching the dam, restoring the creek’s aquatic habitat, and removing an illegal barrier to fish passage that the city first agreed to remove in 2006. Work …
Continue reading “St. Helena City Council awards $3.2 million contract for York Creek dam removal”
“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 …
Continue reading “[Napa Vision 2050] Water Audit California: Bremer Family Winery”
“Water Audit has two concerns herein: (1) the preservation of the Napa County streamsetback provision, and (2) the application of proper policies and practices considering environmentalmatters. Water Audit believes that riparian ways should be seen as sacred ground, an essentialfoundation of the community’s environmental health.”
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. 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.
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.
“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 …
Continue reading “Watershed forum looks to defuse Napa County water issues”
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 …
“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 …
“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 …
Continue reading “WAC warns Napa County of litigation over winery permitting deregulation”
“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 …
Continue reading “Napa County’s winery streamlining plan faces legal threat”
“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 …
“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 …
Continue reading “After environmental lawsuit, St. Helena agrees to bypass more water into creek”
“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 …
Continue reading “St. Helena threatened with lawsuit over stalled dam removal”
“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 …
Continue reading “City of St. Helena sued over water diversion”