Conditions are becoming dire in some wine grape growing regions of California. Sonoma County is the driest in 120 years, and last year was the driest on record. Paso Robles has passed an ordinance banning the planting of new crops that necessitate irrigation. California is experiencing state-wide drought conditions and the governor is expected to issue a declaration of drought emergency. California is a successful wine region because of the timing of its annual rains between November and March. So far there has been no rain in the past month and a half. Even if rains come late, they will not be enough to fill the state’s almost-empty reservoirs. The area of most concern is the San Joaquin Valley. Most of the growing region’s water comes from federal and state sources and federal water managers have discussed releasing only 5% of what they would normally sell. In Anderson Valley, wine grape acreage is five times what it was 20 years ago – and most of it is irrigated – but the reservoir for the area, Lake Mendocino, is at 37% capacity and dropping. Additionally, growers who usually use cover crops over the winter are seeing very little to no crop growth leaving the land bare and vulnerable to erosion.
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