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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/napa-vineyards-fish-friendly-farming-ecology/>
"Among even the most casual eaters, invoking Napa Valley will almost assuredly
lead to talk about wine. Blessed with a Mediterranean climate, Napa Valley’s
grapes benefit from dry summer days, rainy winters and nighttime fog — ideal
conditions for the cultivation of late-ripening cabernet sauvignon grapes,
which represent over 50 percent of the total varietals planted in Napa.
Far less likely to come up in discussions of Napa travels: native, endangered
species of salmon and trout. But what happens along the waterways of wine
country has a huge impact on its local fish. Lush, green and temperate, ringed
by low-lying mountains and bisected by the San Pablo Bay-bound Napa River, Napa
Valley might appear at first blush to be gloriously immune to the more dire
effects of climate change. But an alarming decrease in the region’s salmonid
populations over the past 75 years suggests otherwise.
As it turns out, the dirty side to grape-growing is, well, dirt. According to
literature published by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control
Board, vineyards are “significant sources of sand and finer sediment
discharge.” These sediments then collect in the Napa River and its tributaries,
clogging up the waterways and making the return journey for spawning steelhead
trout and Chinook salmon a treacherous one.
For 26 years, the appropriately named Fish Friendly Farming (FFF) program has
sought to alleviate these impacts of farming and ranching on the local
waterways. Administered by the California Land Stewardship Institute (CLSI),
the certification program enlists specialty crops farmers — including grape
growers — as stakeholders in the push to preserve salmonid populations. The
program helps to demystify local environmental regulations and best practices
regarding soil and erosion management in order to prevent sediment from
entering the myriad waterways where salmonid species might be impacted."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
