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February 2, 2010

In Sonoma County, it's salmon versus vineyards

  • The state wants to limit how much water vineyards can use to protect crops from frost — in an effort to safeguard coho salmon.
    • By JASON DEAREN
    Associated Press Writer

    HEALDSBURG, Calif. — Grape growers in Northern California's cool, fertile Sonoma County wine region are stomping mad at a new plan to limit the amount of water vineyards can pump from local rivers and streams to protect crops from frost — a proposed regulation meant to safeguard coho salmon, a species on the brink of local extinction.

    Vineyard acreage in Sonoma County, adjacent to the Napa Valley, has increased 30 to 40 percent during the past decade and the county estimates the businesses generate about $2 billion annually.


     
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