Creating a Groundwater Sustainability Plan in the Cuyama Valley

As many of you know, we are committed to dry farming our vineyard and olive trees to produce high quality wine and olive oil. With no irrigation water in the fruit, we harvest a smaller, more concentrated fruit which brings each variety’s true essence forward for us all to enjoy.  And very importantly we dry-farm as a way to farm in harmony with our natural surroundings. Our average rainfall is only 12-15 inches a year. In an average rainfall year, using our dry farming practices, we do not need to apply any irrigation during the dry summer months. In drought years we apply infrequent deep waterings to maintain the plants. While we like to think of Condor’s Hope as being in the ‘middle of nowhere’, there is really no such thing as isolation. We are part of the Cuyama Valley in northeast Santa Barbara County. This high desert Valley has been designated by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) as one of 21 critically overdrafted water basins in California (There are over 500 CA basins). As such the Cuyama Valley is required to develop a Groundwater Sustainability Plan by 2020. This is both an exciting opportunity and a serious challenge and we have become quite involved in the community in helping shape this plan. While there are many examples of dry-farmed range land and small and medium sized sustainable farms in the Cuyama, there are several very large agribusiness operations growing carrots and other vegetables, as well as newly planted large vineyards that are using much of the limited groundwater in the Cuyama, creating a situation where domestic wells are going dry and the deep wells used for irrigation are mining water with heavy metals such as arsenic.  Over the next year we will continue to be engaged in this local grappling with how do have a sustainable system and not overpump our groundwater. We will walk our talk through our own dry-farming practices and advocate for a plan that supports nature’s limitations while providing opportunities for the local community to thrive.

As Mark Twain said: “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting!”

As Robbie & Steve say: “Dry-farmed wine is for drinking; Groundwater is for community involvement!”

Here are resources where you can learn more about the groundwater challenges in the Cuyama Valley. What is happening here right now is a microcosm of what is happening in overdrafted basins throughout California. For all of us who enjoy  food and wines from California, we hope this will help you know more about where your food comes from.