Grape-growers encouraged to irrigate at night

The Sonoma County Water Agency is working with grape-growers on a nighttime irrigation schedule that would help the agency manage Russian River flows to conserve water.

The Water Agency now has to provide a cushion of water in the river to cover the needs of growers, who account for a third of the water taken out of the Russian River, agency spokesman Brad Sherwood said.

If the growers aren’t irrigating, the water flows out the Russian River into the ocean.

If the agency knows when the growers plan to turn on their pumps, they can release just enough water from Lake Mendocino to cover the expected bump in need.

“If the Water Agency does not have to put out extra water to cover the peaks and valleys in demand, they can save water in the long run,” said grape-grower Dennis Murphy of Geyserville.

The Water Agency has been ordered by the state Water Resources Control Board to cut the amount it takes from the Russian River by 15 percent until Oct. 28, with the water saved in Lake Mendocino for the fall salmon run.

As of Sunday, the Water Agency was at 14.2 percent for the first three weeks of the mandatory period, largely because of the conservation efforts of its largest contractors, the cities of Santa Rosa, Windsor, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Sonoma and Petaluma and the Valley of the Moon, North Marin and Marin Municipal water districts.

In meetings Tuesday and last Friday, Murphy and other ranchers began talking to Water Agency engineers to find out what they can do to help the conservation effort.

Murphy said that he and at least three other large-scale growers have begun implementing a night-time irrigation schedule and he is talking to other growers to do the same.

“We have been encouraging growers to irrigate at night, to flatten this thing out,” said Murphy, whose ranch, Murphy’s Ranch and Vineyards, have 200 acres on the Alexander Valley floor.

It is estimated that grape-growers use about 37,000 acre-feet a year to irrigate their crops.

Bob Anderson of the United Winegrowers said his group has too been urging growers to conserve, in particular by irrigating at night.

“Guys are listening and adopting changes that in the end save them water and save them energy costs,” Anderson said. “Everybody’s spreading the gospel here to say that there are things that can be done to cut water use, and that is a big one.”