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Those of us who attended the city of Napa s Zoom meeting outlining the proposed changes to the hydrant meter usage starting Aug. 1, 2021 (to be voted on at the Napa City Council on July 20), witnessed the beginning of what promises to become a contentious and challenging transition into water rationing.
We agree with the city s clear-eyed attention to the water emergency in our county, planning to meet the needs of city residents. However, we are alarmed at the county s apparent blind eye to the needs of residents outside of the city.
Since 2009, the trucking of water to rural customers from the city of Napa hydrants has increased. Rural wells have become underperforming or dry due to increased development, the drilling of more wells, and climate changes and drought. This year trucking reached an all-time high. Between January and June, the amount of water trucked has doubled from the same period last year, going from 24 acre-feet (AF) in 2020 to 47 AF in 2021.
Noah Berger, Associated Press
A firefighter runs past flames Oct. 1 while battling the Glass
Fire in a Calistoga vineyard. A local group wants to lease two Fire
Boss rapid-response planes to be based in Napa County that can dump
water on wildfires.
Advocates trying to bring two water-dropping, single-engine planes to Napa County to get a quick jump on fighting wildfires will have their day before the county Board of Supervisors.
Supervisors at their Tuesday meeting said they want the issue of the planes equipped with Fire Boss water systems on a future agenda. The discussion could happen as soon as the April 20 meeting.
Advocates trying to bring two water-dropping, single-engine planes to Napa County to get a quick jump on fighting wildfires will have their day before the county Board of Supervisors.
Supervisors at their Tuesday meeting said they want the issue of the planes equipped with Fire Boss water systems on a future agenda. The discussion could happen as soon as the April 20 meeting.
âI feel like we are hearing so much that is not documented about this issue,â county Supervisor Diane Dillon said. âA lot of allegations about how it will work, how it wonât work, how it will be funded, where the money would come from.â
After a long wine country growth battle, Anthem winery near Mount Veeder convinced Napa County that its controversial expansion plan is a good one.
âI see this as something that is fulfilling my objectives and the vision that I see for the Mount Veeder appellation,â county Board of Supervisors Chair Alfredo Pedroza said.
After a five-hour hearing Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors favored upholding a Planning Commission decision that approved Anthem additions. It tentatively voted to deny an appeal by several rural neighbors.
Supervisor Diane Dillon was the lone dissenter. She cited concerns over groundwater supplies, wildfire danger to winery visitors and the number of exceptions to county road rules needed for a new Dry Creek Road entrance.