Napa Water Forum looks at how nature, humans can both thrive

Ideas flowed at a recent forum on how to manage Napa Valley water, which is the lifeblood for local cities, world-famous wine country and the environment.

Save Napa Valley Foundation — formerly Growers/Vintners for Responsible Agriculture — and other groups put on the Napa Water Forum. It took place Friday in the Native Sons of the Golden West building in downtown Napa.

"This is not in lieu of the county, but another voice in addition to the county," said Mike Hackett of Save Napa Valley Foundation. "I'm a firm believer in using as many resources as you can to come to the best conclusion."

Here's the situation — water runs from local mountains in streams to the Napa River, giving life to fish and other aquatic life. The Napa River runs for about 50 miles from Mount St. Helena through the Napa Valley to San Pablo Bay.

Some water is captured behind dams that form reservoirs for local cities. Some water seeps into the aquifer, becoming groundwater that feeds streams and the Napa River during the hot summers and provides well water for vineyards, wineries and homes.

But there's only so much water. As throughout California, local controversies swirl over how supplies can serve both human endeavors and nature while both thrive.

Peter Moyle, co-founder of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis, talked about how Napa County has a "reconciled ecosystem." The idea is to protect native birds, fish and other species while also recognizing that the system is different than before the arrival of Europeans.

"It means there's no going back to the prior condition," he said.

Moyle set forth a challenge. He said the goal could be to have the Napa River be free-flowing from headwaters to estuary, even during drought years.

That didn't happen during the recent three-year drought. Stretches of the river above the tidal reaches north of the city of Napa went dry during the summer.

The situation of Putah Creek in Solano County came up. Monticello Dam was built across Putah Creek in the late 1950s to create Lake Berryessa reservoir. That left the lower stretches of Putah Creek going dry at times, such as during the 1987-1992 drought.

City of Davis environmentalists sued. A settlement with the Solano County Water Agency resulted in a less confrontational, team approach, strategic water releases from Lake Berryessa into Putah Creek and the hiring of Rich Marovich as streamkeeper to spearhead such things as habitat restoration.

"To see the recovery of the salmon is just astonishing," Marovich said at the forum.

But, if the Putah Creek story may hold some lessons for Napa County, forum participants also noted the Napa River has different circumstances. For example, there are multiple dam operators with reservoirs, not just one.

Napa County has 14 water agencies — five cities and nine special districts, though not all have reservoirs. Brendon Freeman, executive officer of the Local Agency Formation Commission of Napa County, talked about the possibility of some type of countywide water district.

Lucas Patzek, executive director of the Napa County Resource Conservation District, talked about fish. There are 50 species in the Napa River and estuary.

"Fish are in indicator of the health of the watershed," he said.

The district and other groups and agencies are looking at fish barriers along waterways that keep steelhead trout from reaching spawning grounds. These barriers range from dams to road culverts.

Fifty-five barriers remain. Fifteen are either dams for reservoirs or are below negligible upstream habitat and aren't targeted for removal. Ten are being worked on, leaving 30 to be addressed, Patzek said.

"People love nature and fish and beavers and all those things," Patzek said. "Clean water is important to everybody. Those are issues that really bring people together."

City of Napa Deputy Director of Utilities Joy Eldredge talked of ways the city might try to squeeze out more water amid drought. One is "purified water," which entails cleaning up sewage water.

"Can we take recycled water and treat that with advanced treatment to the point where we can drink it, use it as drinking water?" she said. "We are looking at that right now."

The forum was upbeat. But an incident roiled the waters prior to the event.

Organizers expressed frustration that Napa County didn't participate, though asked to speak about its state-required Groundwater Sustainability Agency. The GSA is governed by Napa County supervisors and oversees groundwater use in most of Napa Valley.

Attendees at the forum included Napa County Supervisors Joelle Gallagher and Anne Cottrell. But no county staff members or consultants involved with groundwater spoke.

The county is discriminating against a community-based organization like Save Napa Valley Foundation because the foundation is offering additional voices and ideas to the mix, Hackett said. This isn't meant to be in lieu of county efforts, he said.

Interim County Executive Officer David Morrison addressed the issue in an email to the Napa Valley Register.

"The forum's theme this year focuses on construction projects to improve fish habitat in the upvalley, which is not within the authority of either the (county) Flood Control District or the GSA and is why we are not participating," Morrison said.

Water Audit California, one of the forum's organizers, in 2021 sued the county over groundwater pumping and later dropped the lawsuit. Morrison said that legal action wasn't the reason the county chose not to participate.

Hackett agreed that the county has no jurisdiction over fish passage, but said groundwater issues also involve the interconnection with surface water. Plus, the forum looked at groundwater monitoring, he said.

Napa Water Forum 2023 — the Refugia Project was sponsored and/or organized by the Save Napa Valley Foundation, Mennen Environmental Foundation and Water Audit California.