"The Grape Debate" letter to the editor in today's PD

[Shepherd]

The following letter to the editor appears in today's PD from Linda Hale of the Valley of the Moon Alliance (VOTMA) and the new Wine and Water Watch (WWW). One can make comments on this letter by going to the following link. A mass movement seems to be developing to challenge Big Wine, but we need more voices out there. Please join us.

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinion/4387796-181/thursdays-letters-to-the-editor


The grape debate
EDITOR: Gabriel Froymovich (“Keeping the grape debate in perspective,” Close to Home, Friday) wrote that “Sonoma County’s wine industry has grown from just one part of a diverse agricultural landscape to a dominant force in our lives.”

This is, in a nutshell, the problem. There is a rush to acquire agricultural land and build huge wineries and event centers that will bring an ever-increasing stream of tourists. And they will compete to do it.

They also will be competing for water. The industry’s recent ads tout “sustainability.” But with more land planted in grapes and each winery permitted, we are allowing them to pull more water from rivers, deplete the shrinking aquifers and pave recharge areas. With drought conditions, these are not results that can be mitigated by “making every drop count.”

What really hit home was Froymovich’s admission that he was “concerned about the way wine and associated tourism are changing the face of my town — Healdsburg — and my county.” He’s right to be concerned. As people rush in and later sell to the highest bidder, we will have mainly internationally owned resorts and agricultural complexes rather than small, locally owned wineries. This industry may not be Big Oil, but it is Big Business.

LINDA HALE, Glen Ellen