North Bay Business Journal

  • Frost-pond bill passes; regulators float frost-water rule

    September 12th, 2011

    The Legislature passed a bill by two North Coast state legislators that would streamline permitting of small irrigation ponds that could be tapped for frost prevention, rather than streams deemed habitat for protected fish. Meanwhile, state water regulators released the latest revision to a Russian River basin frost-water regulation more than three years in the making.

  • Deadline looms for frost plans

    January 17th, 2011

    NORTH BAY — Getting winegrape growers up to speed quickly on Sonoma County’s new ordinance on use of Russian River Basin water for frost protection will be a hot topic of a major viticulture seminar in Santa Rosa this Thursday.

  • Wine: Ground-breaking Fetzer study measures carbon

    November 15th, 2010

    A new study of carbon sequestration on 1,322 acres of Fetzer Vineyards vineyard and wild land in Mendocino County could make the chemical element a huge resource for the wine industry under California’s evolving greenhouse-gas emissions accounting system.

  • Study estimates impact of proposed frost rules to top $2B

    November 1st, 2010

    SONOMA AND MENDOCINO COUNTIES — The impact of proposed state rules controlling the use of Russian River basin water to protect winegrapes and other crops from frost damage could exceed $2.1 billion from lost business income, tax revenue, land values and 8,000-plus jobs in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, according to a new study by a Sonoma State University economist.

  • Divisions remain over direction of frost rules

    May 24th, 2010

    The recent confluence of conservation and farming interests that resolved a years-long delay in adoption of rules for use of North Coast water needed for protected fish also could direct the outcome of pending regulation of water used for protecting crops from frost damage.

  • Green Business: Water officials OK B20 for tanks; new organic wine rules

    June 22nd, 2009

    State water-quality regulators are allowing storage of biodiesel blends up to 20 percent, or B20, in approved, compliant underground fuel tanks through Dec. 1 on an “emergency” basis as they work on permanent rules. The temporary rule went into effect June 1.

  • Water regulators settle Manchester reservoir action

    May 25th, 2009

    The State Water Resources Control Board agreed to drop enforcement action against operators of the 162-acre Manchester Ridge Coast Mountain Vineyards over an existing reservoir and one originally planned.

  • State, regional stormwater rules align

    May 11th, 2009

    NORTH COAST – Regional regulations for control of rainwater-borne sediment and other listed pollutants from construction sites in the erosion-prone North Coast could be coming into closer alignment with state rules as both release new drafts of their governing policies.

  • Guest contributor: Species issues tested in the vineyards

    October 20th, 2008

    The Northern California wine industry has become a key laboratory for significant nationwide trends in endangered-species regulation. The prominent national and California species issues that have developed recently — the continuing decline of many endangered species, the incremental impacts of global climate change and the evolving endangered species regulatory framework — are beginning to have dramatic effects on wine growers and the wine industry in general.

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