California - Napa Valley Vineyards

"If we could just subsidize the riparian zones rather than soybeans, we would clean up our flood control problems and our waterways and the quality of our water by a very inactive technique." Lee Hudson made this comment to his wife while flying in a small plane and looking down at a river. "I'm very much interested in buffer zones as a means of reducing our negative exports from our farms."

Hudson has 140 acres of vineyards in California's Napa Valley, divided into 45 blocks of from 3 to 45 acres. "The most dramatic thing I've done--which is pretty undramatic--is to do setbacks." He's put 50 to 100 feet between the end post and the creek on both his vineyard and his grazing land, "and I don't count as buffer the 24 to 30 feet outside of the end post where I drive equipment." He added, "I've decreased the size of my vineyards by 10 percent in some cases. I farm 10 percent less land and get 10 percent less revenue, but I do reduce some capital costs. Before, I was constantly having to put riprap in the creek, but now I let it go. I lose the resource of the land, but I felt strongly about decreasing siltation and streambank erosion, and because of that I've done these setbacks." Hudson has designs for creating five acres of shallow water wetlands for waterfowl, "even though he could be using that land, minus the setbacks, to grow grapes," says Phil Blake, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) District Conservationist.

Napa County has one of the strongest agricultural zoning and protection laws in the country. It requires setbacks or buffers for new and replanted vineyards in order to protect water quality and reduce soil loss. Blake says that Hudson installed setbacks on his existing vineyards before the county required them. They also are wider than the county requirements for setbacks, which increase in width of from 35 to 85 feet as the degree of slope rises. "Even before the regulations, Lee Hudson found that setbacks helped, and that it didn't make sense to squeeze the streambanks," Blake says.

Blake says that streamsides are wetter and shadier than upland areas, and some economic models show there are good financial reasons for setbacks; but Hudson says that "from an economic perspective, it's nuts. It has a particularly big impact on me because I have a lot of little blocks with creeks running through." Still, he figures it's one of the costs of doing business, "and it's a question of principle. It's also a low-input--what I call a Btu basis--method of mitigating our impacts. To me the buffer zone technique involves a one-time initial cost, whether in dollars, human resources, or fuel. That's why I like them. I can then sin a little more on some other part of the place." Blake says, "Lee doesn't need to feel too penitent, though, his soil erosion rates are well below 'T' on most of his vineyard blocks."

After all, Hudson says, "No matter what I do--because I farm grapes--it hurts. It's big-time activity. I do a lot of alternate row cultivation and have 100 percent cover crops in the vineyard. Even then, I'm applying some pesticides and herbicides in the rows, and there's some minor erosion there. I use compost rather than chemical fertilizers. I've fooled around with a lot of things, such as organic, but have backed away because even organic beats up the soil."

Blake says not everyone took to buffers, but despite initial resistance to the setback requirements, the county law has been in effect since 1991. "It's been tested and has become a part of the farming culture. People expect those requirements--and things look pretty different compared to eight years ago." Hudson agrees. "The buffers really do help; the water runs clear into the creek. When you look at the creeks and see water running through the permanent cover and coming clear, you know it's taking 80 percent of what's coming off the ground." Blake says Hudson applies his stream buffer protection to his pasture and rangeland, too, with exclusionary fencing to keep cattle out of sensitive stream areas, and to protect water quality and buffer zone vegetation. The buffer strips along his creeks have provided biologically diverse habitat, as well, says Hudson. "If I tried to put my biodiversity inside the vineyard, that would be like being at war. I'm constantly fighting with things that want what I want. You can't be cute, you've got to attack." So instead, Hudson's biodiversity is in his setbacks, his "demilitarized zone."

Hudson says that it's hard for him to tell others they should do as he has done. "It would be great to have some means of compensating farmers--not just 25, but 100-foot setbacks and not just on blue-line streams--and leave them alone except for some minor management. Probably the government should purchase a conservation easement. From my perspective, that would be a much better way of supporting farmers because there's a long-term benefit, and because the creeks would run clear."

There is a Napa County Land Trust, according to Blake, which has an aggressive easement program on agricultural land; although it may have been focused more on open space preservation than on streamside buffers. And, there are California and Napa County tax laws designed to protect agricultural land by taxing it at its current agricultural use rather than for its potential use. For Napa, according to Blake, "this means that wine grapes are the highest and best use for this land, and not development." To ensure that the setback requirements are being met, Blake says the county depends more on site visits and education than on fines or other penalties. "We have tried to make the program user-friendly. People can come in, get help developing their plans. They're given information that helps them do the right thing. There are private consultants in addition to NRCS and the conservation district planners, and we have a workshop once a year to trade notes on the latest technology. So instead of just having a law, we provide a lot of practical information. A little encouragement from fellow grape grower peers doesn't hurt, either."

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