As the rain continues to fall around us, we must start looking forward to new and creative solutions to prepare us for a climate of more extremes and less predictability. Often we find ourselves talking about issues in silos of each other and with blinders on toward how other areas may be connected. As we continue to face bigger and more pressing climate challenges, we must begin searching for the links across issues and then identify solutions that may not have otherwise been considered. It is time to start implementing lasting and protective solutions for all those dependent on our precious waters. Here we discuss how one solution can simultaneously be designed to reduce nonpoint source pollution while increasing groundwater supplies in vineyards.
When people talk about issues like water quality or climate change, they are often spoken of as separate issues, rather than focusing on the connections between water quality and climate change.
Nonpoint source pollution occurs when water washes over a land surface and carries pollutants like sediment, trash, and pesticides into our waterbodies. In large enough concentrations, these pollutants can lead to water that is no longer healthy fishable, swimmable, or drinkable for humans and other species alike. Nonpoint source pollutants running off agricultural land remain among the most significant unregulated sources of impairment to our water bodies in the Russian River Watershed.
Typically, to reduce these pollutant discharges a vineyard property will implement various management practices like cover crops, road maintenance, and no tilling. These and other practices are meant to help hold sediment in place and also slow down runoff so that there is an increasing chance pollutants can settle and or be captured before entering a water body. While these practices can lead to significant reductions in pollutant discharges, many vineyards treat them as temporary each year and do not manage them to utilize these benefits fully. This can lead to increased monetary and time costs for vineyards, making certain best practices feel more like a chore, with inconsistent benefits to our waterbodies.
In contrast, climate change is typically a water quantity issue within our watershed, impacting our seasonal water supplies each year. Climate change is causing our weather patterns to be less predictable and more extreme each passing year. This means that our available water supply is continually put under more stress with fewer opportunities to recover. Regional groundwaters in particular is at risk of unsustainable depletion as water users turn to much less regulated groundwater pumping to supplement insufficient surface water supplies. As our region continues to grow and undergo various changes, it’s going to be even more important that we respond to these changes preemptively.
Since the last drought, there has been a lot of discussion about what is needed to weather the next inevitable dry period. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much movement beyond that discussion and towards actual implementation. There have been certain isolated efforts on individual properties however, nothing at any sort of scale or looking beyond one’s property lines.
One solution that can address both of these issues, is the collection of stormwater on vineyard properties that supports important groundwater recharge while also collecting sediment-filled discharges that would otherwise contribute to regional sediment pollution. Essentially, a property owner or manager would take their knowledge of a property’s drainage paths, soil composition, and natural contours to identify a few locations where large capture basins could be built and stormwater runoff directed. Pollutant-laden runoff would then fill these on-site capture basins instead of flowing directly into our waterbodies. The collected water would then slowly percolate back into the natural groundwater aquifer for later use while simultaneously capturing pollutants at the bottom of the basin instead of washing downstream. After the rainy season, accumulated sediment can be dug out of the basin and spread back into the vineyard to prepare the basin for the following year. A similar solution meant to help facilitate and incentivize groundwater recharge is currently being tested by a small group of farmers in the Pajaro Valley to some initial success.
By considering how a project can be multi-benefit from the very beginning, different property management decisions can be made more efficiently and cost-effectively than adopting individual solutions for every issue that may arise. Plus, permanent fixtures that rely on naturally occurring processes can help further reduce annual time and resource commitments by these vineyard properties. Environmental protections can be gained by looking at the growing number of issues we face holistically and recognizing their connections. Solutions that rely on naturally occurring processes will reduce time and resource commitments by vineyard owners and bring health back to our watershed.