Vineyard owners frequently take water from streams illegally. They also file applications to legally withdraw water from rivers and streams although this may not be in the best interests of neighboring human and animal populations.
A. Pott, of Napa, and Marietta Cellars’ Yorkville (southwest of Hopland in Mendocino County) ranch have filed Applications to Appropriate Water with the State Water Resources Control Board. The applications, filed in April 2013 and May 2011, respectively, are in the notice period, when protests may be filed. According to the Water Board, applications may take several years to process in order to determine the effects of the proposal.
The Pott application seeks to appropriate 7 acre feet yearly from the Napa River by way of constructing two dams and reservoirs on unnamed tributaries of Dry Creek, and will be used to irrigate 7 acres of vineyard as well as “recreational” use.
Marietta Cellars seeks to appropriate 59 acre feet of water yearly from Lake Sonoma by way of unnamed tributaries of Dry Creek in Mendocino County for irrigation and frost protection.
Protests on the Marietta Cellars application must be be received by April 3, 2017; Potts application protests must be received by April 19, 2017.