Key element of Russian River frost plan withdrawn
Brett Wilkison
Press Democrat
02/08/2011
A key part of Sonoma County's recently approved program to oversee agricultural frost operations in the Russian River watershed has been derailed after contract negotiations between the county and grape growers broke down last week.
The disagreement centers on grower concerns about the water monitoring and reporting work seen as central to the overall program, which aims to allow water diversions for frost control while protecting stream flows for endangered salmon and threatened steelhead.
Among the hundreds of growers who would be affected by the program, a small group including John Dyson, a high-powered Healdsburg vintner, objected to any reports that would identify how much water is being taken from the river by individual growers, sources involved in the talks said.
The negotiations fizzled after the nonprofit group representing growers, the Russian River Water Conservation Council, endorsed those objections and proposed a contract revision that would have withheld growers' names from reports, sources said.
County negotiators rejected that proposal, which would have changed the policy endorsed by the Board of Supervisors when it unanimously approved the program in December.
The growers' group also balked at a last-minute county request for legal protection from any lawsuits from growers on fees associated with the program. Growers said they can't afford to indemnify the county.
The breakdown raises the likelihood of growers next year facing more stringent state rules on frost water, a scenario they'd hoped to avoid through tighter local oversight.
Both sides expressed disappointment with the outcome last week but downplayed the failure.
