Leadership pillar

water efficiency & Savings

Water is gold in California, where we continue to face increasingly frequent and intense droughts tied to our changing climate. The good news is that efficient, targeted vineyard irrigation is critical to grape quality. In order to make exceptional wines growers have to provide vines with just the right amount of water at just the right time. And some growers have customized their vineyards and management to allow for dry farming – no irrigation after the first few years when the vines are established.

Water is not only dripping in the vineyard; it is also flowing in the winery. While no water is added to wine it takes a lot of water to clean tanks, barrels and other equipment. Imagine the mess during harvest and crush! Napa Green baselines and tracks the water use of all of our members, with an emphasis on the connections between water, energy, and the bottom line.

Here are some examples of water efficiency opportunities in vineyards and wineries:

  • Soil and plant sampling to determine vine water stress
  • Doing irrigation assessments to catch any leaks or clogs and maximize efficiency of the drip irrigation
  • Install technologies like Tule and/or Ranch Systems that provide real-time water stress and weather data to precisely target irrigation
  • Using steam to clean barrels and bottling lines
  • Using new products and technologies that dramatically reduce the amount of water needed to clean tanks (e.g. Destainex, FilmAway, BlueMorph UV)
  • Install native, drought-tolerant landscaping and remove or limit lawn
  • Only water during early-morning and apply mulch to prevent evaporation
  • Track and review water use monthly to quickly catch any leaks (leaks are not uncommon, particularly in landscaping!)
  • Install new water meters that allow managers to track water use in real-time from their desks (e.g. Badger AquaCUE)

Water efficiency & Savings musings

Napa Green Champions Make Water Efficiency Mainstream
Looking for some new ideas to improve water efficiency, and simultaneously save energy? Here are a few examples of what some Napa Green wineries are doing to baseline and track water use to inform decision making; engage staff through “Blue Teams;” and set ambitious and inspiring goals like becoming the first Living Building Challenge certified winery.
Reaping the Benefits of Cutting-Edge Irrigation Technologies
Tule Technologies and Ranch Systems provide tools to vintners to measure Actual Evapotranspiration, vine stress and wirelessly provide vineyard data that can be linked to automated irrigation. Pine Ridge Vineyards and Chateau Montelena Winery were early adopters of these technologies and they are impressed with the results.