Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/561374
1 0 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | S e p t - O c t 2 015 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m EDITOR'S DESK As Jeff Zucker of J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines in Paso Robles, commented: "It's the 100 little decisions you make every day that contribute the most to water conservation." (He should know: The winery uses only 1.31 gal- lons of water per gallon of wine!) Grapegrowers are also ramp - ing up their conservation efforts. In "Drought-Busting Technologies for the Vineyard," on page 36, vineyard managers detail the tech tools they're using to monitor and cut back on water usage. This can mean anything from sap flow meters; to vineyard sensors that provide real-time data; to NASA satellite imagery; to a futur- istic vineyard robot that uses machine vision and thermography to assess vine health and water needs. Thanks to such efforts, our sur- vey respondents reported impres- sive water reductions during the last few years. Almost a third said they've cut back by 11%-20%, while 25% reported using 6%-10% less water. A healthy 17.29% reported water-usage reductions over 20%. While climatologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- tion assert that El Niño is strengthen- ing and will likely continue through next winter, no one knows for sure if it will bring major downpours, or another year of drought. Either way, today's water conser- vation measures will better position the state's wine producers for what- ever the future holds. Salute! As the drought continues here in California, winery and vineyard man- agers are finding increasingly cre- ative ways to use less water. In some cases, water conservation is as simple as switching to low-flow spray nozzles or sweeping floors instead of hos- ing them down. In others, it involves installing high-tech systems costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. To dig deeper into the specifics, Vineyard & Winery Management con- ducted an online survey of wine pro- ducers and grapegrowers across the state. When the results came in, we were not surprised to learn that, dur- ing the last three years, nearly 89% of respondents took measures to reduce their water usage. Vineyard irrigation was a major tar- get for cutbacks, along with changes to cleaning and sanitation practices. Almost 68% of survey participants bought new water-saving equip- ment during the last three y e a r s – i n c l u d i n g f l o w meters, barrel cleaning systems, weather stations and soil moisture probes – and another 40% said they plan to pur- chase new systems during the next 12 months. In Deborah Parker Wong's story on page 44, "Conservative State of Mind," winery operations managers share their strategies, from modify- ing water-wasting bottling line pumps; to installing waterless sanitation sys- tems for tanks and barrels; to invest- ing in bioreactor systems to recycle wastewater. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. TINA CAPUTO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Who You Gonna Call?