Napa Valley Grapegrowers Report: Investing in the aquifer

The benefits of farmland preservation and regenerative farming practices have captured the interest of a much larger audience that sees that a farmer’s work can benefit the community as much as the farm itself. This is true in Napa County, where growers are increasingly taking action and demonstrating that returns on environmentally conscience investments in the vineyard can be land-smart, economically beneficial and provide ecosystem services to the collective community.

Land restoration efforts around the Napa watershed are a great example of long-term investments grape growers continue to undertake. These show how doing the right thing can result in a multitude of benefits. The river restoration projects in Oakville, Yountville, and now Oak Knoll reaches have proven to be extremely successful. They have improved the Napa River and instream habitats leading to the repopulation of fish and other animals as well as supported the replenishment of aquifers and decreased the risk of flooding — a domino effect of positive change to local ecosystems!

The Bale Slough restoration project is the next phase of this decades long commitment made by the farming community to invest in the aquifer by means of voluntary and proactive land and watershed restoration. This multi-phased project will break ground in 2023 with the participation of several industry leaders in conjunction with local wineries, and the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District.

The Bale Slough is an environmentally sensitive wetland fed by the Bear Creek in Rutherford. Sloughs are natural habitats for native species and beneficial animals, and they control sediment, runoff and erosion as they act like a buffer between small and large bodies of water.

This restoration project will aim to improve flood control and the overall health of the local waterway. It should be noted that local vineyards will see improvements to fruit quality as an immediate result of reduced flooding and also benefit from greater long-term water availability and holding capacity in soils.

It’s also true that some vines may play a more sacrificial role for the greater good as it’s not uncommon for these types of restoration projects to include increasing setbacks from rivers and streams leading to some strategic vine removal in particular areas.

Habitat restoration largely focuses on water. Aquifer recharge is how we replenish the subbasins that provide us groundwater throughout the summer months. Waterway restorations help slow down flow and improve infiltration rates through soil.

Rain totals and turning on the tap are only part of the puzzle. As we factor in storm intensities and durations, it is important to track where the water goes and how it correlates with our soil management practices and the phenological stages of our vines.

The proper management of forests and sloughs have huge potential to increase recharge capacity and support efforts toward ensuring sustainable aquifer yield, positively impacting our community’s most precious resource. Who knows? Maybe one day we will even see the aquifer recharge ponds that are so commonly used throughout the Central Valley.

Additional improvements from this work include bank stabilization and restoring native plant repopulations. Fish tributaries also benefit directly from the instream improvements and wider channels, which in turn supports other animal species such as river otters and beavers.

As many who have ventured close to the river lately have experienced, catching a glimpse of this ecological improvement is an exhilarating sight after many years of investment on the part of the grower community. The increased presence of fish, otters, and birds of prey are a reflection of proper land stewardship that promotes the natural food chain.

The mutual benefit to environment and vineyard quality is once again clear, as the increase in biodiversity enhances natural biological controls that, in turn, help mitigate pest pressures with less reliance on chemical inputs. A win for both nature and farm.

In this way, restoration projects illustrate the return-on-investment value of the agricultural community centering environmental improvements as both a farming strategy and public good. These projects promote a level of local care that feels contagious and will hopefully continue to spread as they have over the last several years.

It’s exciting to see these seemingly audacious habitat restoration projects from start to finish; to date, they’ve proven to be the right decisions for financial return, environmental protection, and community good – a true win/win/win scenario.