Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/437909
January 2015 Wines&Vines 41 grapegrowing fish and the needs of the vine- yards?'" Smith explained. "And to answer this, we needed a better picture of what is actually happen- ing on the ground." Sixteen new gauges where there was just one To get that more holistic view of the watershed and its water man- agement, The Conservancy in- stalled a network of 16 water-flow gauges at critical points in the Na- varro River watershed. Pa r t i c i p a t i n g l a n d o w n e r s granted The Conservancy physical access to streams on their proper- ties in order to both install flow gauges and conduct site visits every four to six weeks. During these visits, scientists would moni- tor stream levels, take manual stream-flow measurements to calibrate the automated gauges and maintain the gauge units. Cer- tain gauges (such as those with continuous cell phone coverage) transmit data back to a central server every 15 minutes; this data includes water level, water tem- perature, air temperature and dew point. For the remaining gauges, The Conservancy staff manually download data during site visits. Participants have access to the raw data gathered from the gauges on their properties—and The Conservancy cannot share this data with others without per- mission from the landowner. The Conservancy also analyses the col- lective data of the entire gauge network to identify trends, deter- mine opportunities for improving flows and inform strategies to bal- ance the water needs of growers and fish. With permission from participating landowners, The Conservancy has used this collec- tive information to educate the public and state water regulators about unique opportunities and needs in the Navarro watershed. The placement of these gauges allows for real-time information about water levels and stream flow to be delivered to the land- owners. As Smith described, "The data from these gauges is allowing The Nature Conservancy to deter- mine where increasing local water storage will most benefit fish, and it's empowering landowners to manage their water use with an eye to watershed health." For example: After seeing his stream gauge data, one land- owner modified his pumping re- gime in order to avoid sudden drops in stream level that could impair fish; another expressed interest in securing a storage pond in order to avoid pumping alto- gether when flows are low. "In other years, we had one gauge, and it was right at the end of the Navarro River," Fay said. "Now we can know, from this point to this point there's this much water. You can see exactly how much water you're working with on your property, based on real- time data. Not just by standing at the banks." As with many other projects from The Nature Conservancy, the Navarro effort seeks to dem- onstrate that data is the fuel for better resource-management de- cisions. "From the beginning, we've been a science-based orga- nization," Smith said. "And we've found that, when creating solid approaches to balancing the needs of people and nature, it's clear that data is the answer for improving things." The idea is to eventually create an easy-to-use web interface where vineyards and landowners in the Anderson Valley can log in and see, in real time, what is going on with stream flows. "We want to get to a point in the next couple years where landowners can use the in- formation we're collecting to col- laboratively manage water and see how their management affects the watershed as a whole," Smith said. Water storage flexibility The Nature Conservancy also hopes that this data will fuel regu- latory changes that will be good not just for growers but also for wildlife. The Nature Conservancy is working with state agencies to help increase regulatory flexibility so that vineyard owners can more easily build adequate local water- storage infrastructure. These stor- age ponds would be filled during the rainy season and used for ir- rigation during the dry, hot months when fish need water instream the most. The Conservancy is also working to secure flexibility for landowners who already have ponds but can't always fill them The 16 stream-flow gauges in the Navarro River watershed marked in yellow are new. ParTIcIPaTINg vINEYards • Goldeneye Winery • Husch Vineyards • Meyer Family Cellars • Roederer Estate • Scharffenberger Cellars • Wentzel Vineyard Goal: hand over GauGes to Growers The Nature Conservancy paid for the installation of the gauge network as well as its ongoing monitoring and maintenance. The gauging units (HOBO U30-GSM 3G Modules) are manufactured by Onset and require expert installation. While the con- servancy and its donors have funded the program thus far, Smith said, "Our ultimate goal is hand off the gauge network to the grower com- munity. To make that a real- ity, we need to prove to them that the data it provides is really valuable and worth paying for themselves."