State water regulators continue to push for the creation of a watchdog body with the power to halt vineyard water diversions to protect endangered fish in the Russian River.
The regulators, who this week released their latest proposal, also want the public to have access to reports on how much water individual growers take from the river and its tributaries each spring for frost protection.
The state Water Resources Control Board will meet April 6 in Sacramento to review the latest proposal for regulating water diversions in the watershed.
Federal officials said taking water out of the river for frost protection stranded and killed salmon and steelhead in 2008 and 2009. In response, state regulators last year proposed a watchdog organization to regulate such diversion. Officials said such a group needed the power to "kick bad actors out" and prohibit them from diverting water.
"We can't just trust everybody's good nature to get it done," said David Clegern, a water board spokesman.
The regulators' proposals have drawn mixed reactions from growers.
This winter, growers balked at a related Sonoma County program that would have recorded and made public how much water each farmer was taking from the river. A federal fisheries official responded by suggesting that the growers had reneged on their earlier support for a reporting program.
On freezing spring nights, the growers spray water over their grapevines to freeze the green buds in ice, which keeps the plant tissue safe at a constant 32-degree temperature.
The latest state proposal would set new rules in place by March 15, 2012. In the meantime, the water board is preparing an environmental impact report for the new regulations.
Under the proposed state regulations, diversions for frost protection would be unlawful from March 15 to May 15 unless there is a state-approved management program run by a body "capable of ensuring that the requirements of the program are met."
A key question is what group or government agency would take on that role.
"I really don't think the county wants it," said Brian Johnson, a Trout Unlimited official involved in the discussions.
Mike McGuire, supervisor for northern Sonoma County, didn't directly address whether the county should run such a program. But he said the growers, environmentalists and various government officials are meeting and making progress.
"Those conversations are going to continue in the weeks and months to come," he said.
Nick Frey, president of the Sonoma County Wine Grape Commission, said growers understand that any water management program must find ways to get problem resolved.
"Otherwise you run the risk of a fish take," Frey said.
David Keller of Friends of the Eel River said the proposed regulations have enough leverage to win grower compliance.
"We're very encouraged and supportive," Keller said.
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