Napa's other water worry

This week, water experts from the city and county of Napa expressed confidence that residents will not have to prepare for rationing or extreme conservation measures in the near future.

Even if the State Water Project delivers only a small portion of what it has promised in 2009 — which is now expected to be the case — we will have enough water to get by.

Though that sounds comforting, Napa County’s water worries may run much deeper than that. In fact, the biggest problem may be right under our feet.

Many county residents and vineyard owners rely on well water for everything from irrigation to tap water.

It is well documented that private wells have been faltering in the Coombsville area, where demand for groundwater has grown substantially in recent decades.

It is less well-documented what is happening in Carneros, where landowners either benefit from having plentiful water below ground or suffer because their wells are comparatively unproductive.

Even less well-known is the state of wells in the hills and Upvalley, the area recognized as the north Napa Valley groundwater basin.

The Napa County General Plan, updated last year, recognizes the need to protect groundwater supplies.

It advocates for expanded use of recycled water and use of vineyard techniques that protect groundwater, such as use of certain cover crops.

It states that the county should discourage use of groundwater for purposes other than agriculture.

The plan states that some 39,500 acre-feet of groundwater are drawn in unincorporated parts of the county each year, and estimates that the figure will increase to about 50,000 acre-feet by 2050.

The general plan calls for the county and its cities to increase data-gathering and monitoring of wells, an admission of sorts that we simply do not know what is happening with much of our underground supply.

So, while farm interests and urban leaders focus on allotments from the State Water Project, and while Sacramento lawmakers wrestle anew with a proposal for a peripheral canal of fresh water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, our focus should turn to the ground around us.

Napa Valley Register Copyright © 2009