Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/66137
JULY NEWS petition to form a new American Viticultural Area east of Napa in the Coombsville area and opened it for public comments a year and a half after the petition was submitted by local vintners. The proposed Coombsville AVA includes 11,000 acres stretch- ing from the Napa River to the eastern rim of the Napa Valley in the Vaca Range. The west-facing, horseshoe-shaped southern tip of the Vaca Range is a natural boundary that partially encircles the Coomb- sville area, helping define the north, east and southern boundar- ies of the proposed viticultural area, which would become a sub- appellation of the larger Napa Valley AVA and the multi-county TTB opens public comments for Napa Valley sub-appellation Will Coombsville Get an AVA? N apa, Calif.—The Coombsville area east of Napa may finally become an official American Viticultural Area. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has published the North Coast AVA. It adjoins the Carneros, Oak Knoll and Wild Horse Valley AVAs, plus the city of Napa, although it includes part of the city including the Alta Heights hills. The TTB will accept and publish public comments submitted by winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keyword "Coombsville." July 25. It promises speedy action if there are no negative comments. —Paul Franson Officials found 21 juveline steelhead trout dead April 29. Grapegrowers blamed for Mendocino fish kill S WECO M.O.G. Sorter Optical Sorting of Stems, Jacks, Shot Berry and Foreign Material Based in California Rental and Purchase Options Sorting and Automation Solutions 1-800-984-0844 / wecotek.com 18 Wines & Vines JULY 2011 anta Rosa, Calif.—On April 29, a federal agent and a fisheries biologist found 159 juvenile steelhead trout stranded along a branch of the Russian River in Mendocino County; 21 were con- firmed dead. According to Dan Torquemada, assistant special agent in charge, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Santa Rosa, Calif., office had been contacted by a "con- cerned individual" earlier that morning. "Although this matter remains under investigation, we strongly suspect that this event resulted from rapid dewatering of the west branch of the Russian River in Mendocino County near Redwood Valley," Torquemada said. NOAA concluded after consulting with its hydrologist, fisheries biologist and water-rights specialists that the fish kill was related to winegrape growers drawing water from the river for frost protection. Sean White, general manager of the Mendocino County Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District, Ukiah, Calif., explained that river levels are subject to diurnal fluctuations due to trees drawing water from the banks, a process known as transpiration. He added that there is no way of knowing that growers caused the fish kill. "If you look at the gauge data from those days, it doesn't support the accusations at all," White said. "Basically, the water-level change was negligible on those days. We had 47 CFS (cubic feet per second) in the west fork on the day of this alleged fish kill. It dropped down to 45 CFS in an eight-hour period." —Kerry Kirkham winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keywords "fish kill."