Post-Conference Tour (June 18)

Participants in this field trip through East Marin County and Sonoma Valley tasted wine and cheese, broke bread, learned about efforts being made to manage groundwater in Sonoma Valley through a groundwater management program, and some of the innovative conservation and resource management approaches being conducted at the vineyard and winery level. They also learned about California groundwater protection and regulation efforts related to confined animal facilities. The Sonoma Valley Groundwater Management Program, a stakeholder led approach involving agriculture and business, residential well owners, environmental organizations and water providers, is in its third year of implementation and includes stakeholder involvement, groundwater monitoring program, water conservation, and groundwater recharge components. Field trip stops included a dairy and a couple of wineries and covered the topics of recycled water in irrigation, water use efficiency and conservation in the vineyards, efforts to minimize sediment production, through slowing, spreading, and sinking stormwater and sheetflow, groundwater-level monitoring, and - with respect to animal agriculture - the multi-faceted aspects of waste management, nutrient management, and groundwater monitoring used to protect groundwater quality.