water efficiency & Savings

In California, water is invaluable as we navigate more frequent and severe droughts driven by climate change. Fortunately, precise and efficient vineyard irrigation is essential for high-quality grapes. Producing outstanding wines requires delivering exact amounts of water to vines precisely when needed or adapting vineyard practices to dry farming, eliminating irrigation once vines mature after their initial years.

Water stewardship extends beyond the vineyard into the winery. While no water is added to wine during production, substantial volumes are required to sanitize barrels, tanks, and equipment, especially during harvest and crush. Napa Green measures and monitors water consumption across all member operations, focusing on the critical link between water, energy and cost.Β 

Here are some examples of water efficiency opportunities in vineyards and wineries:

  • Conduct soil and plant sampling to monitor and evaluate vine water stress
  • Perform regular irrigation audits to identify leaks or blockages and optimize drip system efficiency
  • Deploy advanced monitoring tools for real-time weather and vine water stress data to fine-tune irrigation scheduling
  • Utilize steam cleaning systems for barrels and bottling equipment to conserve water
  • Adopt innovative cleaning solutions and technologies that significantly lower water consumption during tank sanitation
  • Install water meters to enable precise usage trackingΒ 
  • Monitor and review monthly water consumption data to promptly detect leaks across facilities and grounds
  • Transition to native, drought-resistant plants and minimize or eliminateΒ 
  • Restrict landscape watering to early morning hours and apply mulch to minimize moisture loss from evaporation

sustainability spotlight

Tod Mostero | Director of Viticulture and Winemaking at Dominus Estate
"Dry farming does not mean you simply turn off the faucet. It requires strategic and long-term thinking about where you plant, row orientation, vine density, training the vines early to root deep, hand-cutting superficial roots, and skillful pruning. Shifting an established vineyard to dry farming isn’t easy. But think, just one irrigation of our 100-acre estate would use one million gallons of water. We aren’t just conserving this resource, but building soil health and vine resilience. Does care and stewardship translate into wine quality? I think so. And what about social sustainability? The average tenure of our vineyard crew is 20 years. I’ve been at Dominus Estate 15 years and I’m one of the newest to the team. I am proud of our being selected as Wine Spectator’s #1 Wine of the Year, but there is so much more to do. Last year we achieved organic certification. This spring we will be among the first five Napa Green Certified Vineyards. And I’ve committed to be a mentor and support growers who want to dry farm their vineyards."

Napa Green Substack

Resources

sponsors & Partners

Napa Green is grateful to our industry and community partners and sponsors, who support water conservation in the wine industry. To become a champion of Napa Green please reach out to Napa Green.