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February 2016 WINES&VINES 17 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS MAP: THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER TOP STORY Winegrowers Can't Rely on El Niño S acramento, Calif.—The much-antic- ipated El Niño winter has brought some precipitation to parched Cali- fornia and begun to replenish the vital Sierra Nevada snowpack. But according to experts including the National Weather Ser- vice in Sacramento, a single "normal year" will not redeem the state from the ravages of a four-year drought. Reservoirs have slowly begun refilling from historically low levels, and according to a Jan. 15 report on the water blog Maven's Notebook, which monitors California water issues, "El Niño is not fizzling." Laurel Rogers, who handles communica- tions for the U.S. Geological Survey California Water Science Center in San Diego, told Wines & Vines, "Water storage is key. It's a big deal, in the reservoirs and mountain snowpack." Rogers explained that snowpack data uses an April 1 deadline when estimating water equiva- lent because the last snow has typically fallen by April 1. "It's very important for planning. But if it all melts at once, we can't capture it. We hope for a cool spring where it melts gradually." Meanwhile, Rogers said, "We're trying to work on the infrastructure and sustainability plans for the future. We're trying to look at innovative ways to put new tools in the box." Additionally, she said, "Neither the (U.S.) Bureau of Reclamation nor the (California) Department of Water Resources have an- nounced their initial water allocations yet for this year, so the water operators of these agen- cies probably cannot tell you much about water availability or allocations at this point." The Department of Water Resources' Data Ex- change Center, meanwhile, shows that reser- voir conditions are still well below normal. Dr. Claudia Faunt oversees the Water Science Center. She told Wines & Vines, "In general, farmers are going to use the best available, cheapest water. In the western part of the Cen- tral Valley, for a long time they pumped a lot of groundwater, causing subsidence (sinking) of the water table. Now, state and federal engi- neered canals and projects deliver more water." The center looks at water supply, ground- water and seasonal patterns, Faunt said. "Fruit and nuts are permanent crops, a big investment that cannot be left fallow." Because water has gotten expensive, some farmers have changed their crops, she noted. "I don't know the right answer," Faunt ac- knowledged. "We're trying to put together new answers. The groundwater system is a bank account, and the interest rates are changing. You have to decrease what you're taking out or put more in. People need to think about becoming more efficient and use excess water in efficient ways. The easy answers have been tried—it will take some creativity." Despite the recent precipitation, she pointed out, "There is a general loss of soil moisture. It's a big balancing game. I think agriculture uses water conjunctively, a combination of both surface and groundwater." She noted, though, that drilling deeper to reach groundwater sources results in more salinity in the water—not a healthy thing for grapevines. Among the industry players, "Gallo Winery has been very progressive," Faunt said. Graphics from the The Drought Mitigation Center show that most of California's wine country remained in moderate to severe drought conditions as of Jan. 10. Paso Robles, Calif., one of the grapegrowing regions hit hardest by the drought, has seen above-average precipitation for the 2015-16 season, with rainfall surpassing the 17-year average of 4.7 inches with 6.6 inches of rain. In the Central Valley city of Madera, how- ever, readings are less positive. The 2015-16 precipitation total (2.82 inches) falls short of the 4.02 historical average. Dan Sumner, director of agriculture issues at the University of California, Davis, pointed out that almost every vineyard in the state's Central Valley relies on supplementary irrigation from a mixture of federal and state-supplied water. "It's much more important in a drought. They must tap reservoirs, drill or buy water. We're starting this year with empty reservoirs." Researchers at UC Davis are looking into more efficient methods to keep vineyards CALIFORNIA RAINFALL—SEASON TO DATE Season to Date Average to Date Percent of Average to Date Lodi 8.77 7.3 120% Monterey 4.2 3.6 116% Napa 8.2 16.5 50% Sonoma 15.9 13.5 117% RAINFALL SEASON TO DATE—PERCENT OF AVERAGE 0 50% 100% 150% Rainfall season July 2016-June 2016, rainfall data in inches through Jan. 18. Source: winebusiness.com, California Irrigation Management Information System Lodi Monterey Napa Sonoma Vegetation Condition Extreme Drought Severe Drought Moderate Drought Pre-drought Stress Near Normal Unusually Moist Very Moist Extreme Moist Out of Season Water According to this map released by the National Drought Mitigation Center on Jan. 17, large swaths of the California coast and southern interior are suf- fering from severe drought in spite of continued rain. VEGETATION DROUGHT RESPONSE INDEX California Oregon Nevada Utah Idaho Arizona