Napa County should require
major groundwater users to report how much water they pump from their wells,
the county grand jury recommends.
The grand jury’s new report
focuses on groundwater and recycled water. It asks the question “Is Napa in
good hands?” and finds much to praise, along with more to do.
Groundwater is Napa County’s
underground reservoir and is extracted by wells for farms, wineries, rural
businesses and rural homes. The grand jury’s goal is sustaining groundwater for
generations to come.
Napa Valley appears to have
sufficient groundwater, though there is evidence the aquifers may not be fully
recharging amid the drought, the report said. Groundwater is less plentiful in
the hills.
The grand jury recommended that
major water users be required by June 30, 2016, to meter their wells. They
would file a water use report with the county every three months to ensure they
are not pumping too much groundwater. The grand jury report doesn’t define
“major users.”
Also, the grand jury
recommended that the county encourage non-major groundwater users to meter and
monitor their wells.
Napa County presently requires
well metering only in the Milliken-Sarco-Tulocay basin in the rural area east
of the city of Napa, where the aquifer is depleted, the grand jury report said.
Whether the county would want
to undertake such a program elsewhere remains to be seen. Public Works Director
Steven Lederer said the county doesn’t comment on grand jury reports until
presenting responses to the county Board of Supervisors.
The idea of forcing farmers to
meter wells and file reports has proven controversial in some parts of
California. There are indications such a proposal could meet resistance in Napa
County as well.
Napa County Farm Bureau
Executive Director Sandy Elles said her group encourages members to monitor
their well use and track output using a well log. But it doesn’t believe the
information needs to go to a government agency unless there are aquifer
problems.
Michelle Novi is industry
relations manager for Napa Valley Vintners, which represents 500 members. She
said the group has been part of the county’s groundwater dialogue and is
committed to continuing this approach.
“Groundwater is a critical
resource, both for the Napa Valley wine industry and our community as a whole,”
Novi said.
The Napa Valley Vintners board
has yet to review the grand jury report. Novi and Rex Stults of Napa Valley
Vintners said the well-metering proposal could meet some resistance because of
confidentiality concerns.
A similar situation arose in
2013, when the county sought volunteers for well metering so it could gauge the
health of local aquifers. Some landowners were afraid the data would become
part of the public record and affect property values.
Gary Margadant is president of
the Mount Veeder Stewardship Council, a group interested in groundwater issues.
He compared groundwater monitoring to measuring how much electricity a customer
uses.
“If you can’t measure the water,
then you don’t really know what’s going on in the aquifer,” Margadant said.
“There’s nothing that gives you and your neighbor the knowledge of how the
public resource under the ground is doing.”
The Napa County Board of
Supervisors required groundwater monitoring when approving the Woolls Ranch
Winery in the Mount Veeder area last November. Should water supplies be less
than anticipated, the winery and vineyard must cut back operations to match
available yields.
Another grand jury concern is
the lack of a county groundwater drought plan.
“Citizens should expect their
government officials to be prepared for all potential outcomes and have
procedures or policies in place that they may rely on when needed,” the report
said.
The grand jury also praised the
county, saying for years it has “been ahead of the curve” on groundwater
management. Accomplishments include monitoring aquifers and appointing the
Groundwater Resource Advisory Committee to look at groundwater usage.
Another section of the report
focused on recycled water. Napa Sanitation District handles sewage for the city
of Napa and adjacent areas and creates cleaned-up, treated water that can be
used for irrigation, though not for drinking.
The district is installing a
pipe to take recycled water to the Milliken-Sarco-Tulocay area. This pipe
passes near Napa State Hospital, which uses about 56 million gallons of city of
Napa water annually for irrigation. That equates to 172 acre-feet, about an
eighth of the water held in a full Milliken Reservoir, the smallest of the
city’s two reservoirs.
Hospital officials say Napa
State Hospital could cut its water bill in half by using recycled water for
irrigation, the report said. It would cost $5 million to hook up to the pipe
and the estimated payback is 10 years.
Napa Sanitation District Chief
Financial Officer Jeff Tucker said the hookup cost includes having the hospital
redo its lines to separate drinking water from recycled irrigation water.
The grand jury recommended the
county and city of Napa lobby to make funding for this hookup a priority with
the state.
June 14, 2015
Napa
Valley Register
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