County Water Agency to demonstrate water-saving techniques

For the third consecutive year, the Sonoma County Water Agency has issued a call for conservation from its contractors, municipalities, businesses and the agricultural community that rely on the Russian River for water supply. The SCWA is sponsoring two vineyard water conservation demonstration projects: the irrigation methods project and the low-volume vineyard cooling project.
“The purpose of the demonstration projects is to provide a venue for both education and two-way communication on the subject of vineyard water use,” said Mark Greenspan, demonstration manager and owner/viticulturist of Advanced Viticulture, LLC. “We will show growers how they can easily save water, energy and money while producing excellent wine grapes.”
Irrigation Methods Project: This demonstration will showcase some alternative strategies side-by-side with some commonly used practices that are less efficient. Soil moisture measurements will be made to compare the practices. Different size emitters, frequency of irrigation cycle, comparisons of daytime versus nighttime irrigation, and optimal irrigation duration will all be compared. Vine water status will be monitored weekly and vine observations will be made throughout the project.
Low-Volume Vineyard Cooling Project: This demonstration measures and identifies techniques and technologies that use less water for cooling grapes during hot summer days. Over-vine misters will be used, along with an untreated control and a conventional high-volume overhead sprinkler system. The project will include an automated irrigation method that will turn on at specific temperature thresholds, based on an algorithm. Also fruit and air temperatures will be monitored and fruit chemistry will be measured at several times during the ripening process.
These demonstrations will be conducted at Hoot Owl Creek/Alexander Valley Vineyards. “We are proud to be a partner in these demonstration projects because we believe that conserving Russian River water is essential to our economy and environment,” said Mark Houser, vineyard manager for Hoot Owl.
In April 2009, SCWA was ordered by the State Water Resources Control Board to reduce water use by 25 percent in Sonoma County and 50 percent in Mendocino County. In the Russian River basin, agriculture, including vineyards, consumes approximately one-third of the water from the Russian River.
“It is essential to work with the agricultural community and demonstrate how using state-of-the-art technology and best management practices will yield water savings,” said Paul Kelley, SCWA director and Sonoma County supervisor. “Sonoma County has 60,000 acres of vineyards that bring more than $400 million into our economy – just in wine grape sales – so it is pivotal to show that conservation can support both our water supply and local economy.”
Dates of the events have yet to be announced. For more information about the demonstration projects, contact Greenspan at 707.838.3805.