Enviro Updates – An environmental newsfeed for Sonoma County

Growers urge state to step up glassy-winged sharpshooter trapping and treatment

September 5, 2026

Natalie Hanson, PRESS DEMOCRAT

North Bay and state officials say a recent outbreak of an insect plaguing grapevines reveals a threat to not only California’s $73 billion wine industry, but also the state’s agricultural infrastructure.

Officials say the discovery of the glassy-winged sharpshooter in May serves as a bellwether of broad invasive threats to the state’s agriculture, with shrinking budgets to effectively prevent and manage outbreaks of other pests.

The insect spreads a bacterium responsible for Pierce’s disease, which kills plants like grapevines through thirst. The glassy-winged sharpshooter has the longest range and is most voracious among the species which can spread the bacterium.

Unchecked, its impacts could be significant for winegrowers, who statewide employ more than 422,000 workers. With limited state funding to support trapping and treatment programs, grape growers could lose tens of millions of dollars each year to declining production and vine replacement, agricultural officials and industry representatives say.

Agriculture/Food Systemglassy-winged sharpshooter, vineyards, wine grapes

Ag landowners ask for reconsideration of proposed Alexander Valley water district

September 2, 2026

Anna Armstrong, PRESS DEMOCRAT

As major changes hang over the shape of the region’s water supply, a group of agricultural landowners in northern Sonoma County is advancing the latest attempt to create a new water district for the area and secure a seat at the table in ongoing talks tied to that future.

The proposed district would give Alexander Valley stakeholders their own local agency to pursue water projects, weigh in on regional decisions and prepare for a future in which the Russian River could see less water — both from changes in climate and from any drawdown in supplemental flows from the Eel River.

The fate of the proposed water district could be decided as soon as October, when the Sonoma Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, is expected to again take up the proposal. The panel oversees jurisdictional boundaries for existing and new local government entities.

If commissioners reject it a second time, LAFCO Executive Officer Mark Bramfitt said, the applicants would have to wait a year before submitting another application, and any new proposal would have to be different from the one currently under consideration. Proponents also could challenge the agency’s decision in court.

The proposal comes at a pivotal moment for water users throughout the Russian River watershed.

A system of dams, diversion tunnels and an electric powerhouse, known as the Potter Valley Project, has diverted water from the Eel River into the upper Russian River for more than a century. Those diversions have supplemented dry-season supplies for irrigators and rural and urban residents from Mendocino County’s Potter Valley to Healdsburg.

Agriculture/Food System, WaterAlexander Valley Water District, groundwater, LAFCO, Potter Valley Project, Russian River, vineyards, water diversion, water supply

California is about to see a sudden foot of sea level rise from El Niño. Here’s when it hits

September 2, 2026

Anthony Edwards, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Sea levels along the California coast are expected to rise by a foot as soon as late September, as El Niño-warmed tropical water pushes a slow-moving wave up the coast of North America.

The swell isn’t something seen crashing at a beach but a planetary-scale process known as a Kelvin wave that is triggered by changes in wind at the equator.

“It’s not a wave you can surf,” said Dillon Amaya, an assistant professor of marine science at North Carolina State University. “You’re not gonna be able to see it from your boat, but our instruments will see it as it passes by, like tide gauges.”

The coastally trapped Kelvin wave, as it’s called, originated along the equator and hit the South America coast before turning north at about 6 mph. It raised water levels about 9 to 14 inches (relative to 1993-2025 averages) along the coast of Central America in late August. That surge will hit Cabo in late September and eventually reach San Francisco the first or second week of October.

The Kelvin waves won’t build on each other. Rather, sea level heights and temperatures will remain elevated for weeks, gradually subsiding before the next wave hits.

Climate Change & Energy, Sonoma CoastEl Niño, marine heat wave, sea level rise

‘California’s coast is not for sale.’ State battles Trump plan to limit coastal oversight

August 11, 2026

Roseanna Xia, LOS ANGELES TIMES

In a striking demonstration of support, hundreds of fired-up Californians rallied in Santa Monica to speak out against the Trump administration’s attempt to wrest local control over the state’s treasured coastline.

The Golden State’s top environmental leaders, along with prominent elected officials, environmentalists, business coalitions, community activists, Indigenous groups and everyday citizens, packed a public hearing Monday before the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Coastal Management, which has been tasked with conducting an unprecedented investigation that could ultimately strip California of its power to say no to federal projects.

Experts see the investigation — framed as a performance review of the state’s coastal management practices — as a thinly veiled attempt by Trump officials to open California’s coast to more offshore oil drilling, more rocket launches and possibly even floating nuclear reactors. If the federal government succeeds, many worry it could set the stage for similar actions in other coastal states.

Sonoma CoastCalifornia Coastal Commission, coastal development, CZMA, NOAA, offshore oil drilling

Possible super El Niño could threaten North Bay fishing fleets

August 10, 2026

Anna Armstrong and Susanne Rust, PRESS DEMOCRAT

North Coast commercial fishermen have spent the past several years weathering one crisis after another: a three-year salmon shutdown, repeated delays to the Dungeness crab season and millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Now, a strengthening El Niño could prove to be the industry’s latest challenge.

Scientists say the climate pattern, including warming waters in the eastern Pacific, has the potential to shift where marine species are found and contribute to harmful algal blooms that could disrupt California fisheries. While forecasters say it is too early to know exactly how Northern California will be affected, local fishers say they have already observed unusual conditions on the water.

“Fishermen are scientists,” said commercial fisherman Dick Ogg. “We are always monitoring current, water temperature, color and where we see changes. We look for change and variation as fishermen and we go fish on the edges of this change.”

Ogg said he has already experienced “odd conditions this year.”

Climate Change & Energy, Sonoma Coastalgal blooms, crab season, Dungeness crab, El Niño, fisheries, marine heat wave, marine upwelling, salmon

New cider press to open

August 7, 2026

Natalie Hanson, NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL

The harvest is looking light for some apple growers, but new opportunities to process their fruit are underway as a cidermaker plans to open a new small press in Sebastopol.

Sebastopol-based Ethic Ciders on Aug. 5 announced a new partnership with Slow Food Russian River, made possible using a $90,000 grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The cidermaker has invested in a commercial-grade apple press, which will open to local growers and home orchardists by early September.

The news of the local press comes following Gold Ridge Organic Farm’s announcement in June that it will open a 20,000-square-foot apple press facility in Santa Rosa, able to process about 50 tons of apples per day once operational. Owner Brooke Hazen said he wants to invest in the slow food and apple industries as vintners rip out vineyards amid declining wine profits.

Agriculture/Food Systemapples, Slow Food

Court rules Sonoma County must study impact of water wells on fish, Russian River

August 6, 2026

Bob Egelko, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Tuesday’s ruling said Sonoma County had not properly considered the effects of new rules it issued for increased pumping from the Russian River.

In a challenge by environmental groups to the pumping of groundwater from rivers to fill wells for farmers, homes and businesses in Sonoma County, a state appeals court says counties must consider the impact of their water wells on fish and the environment.

Tuesday’s ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said Sonoma County had not properly considered the effects of new rules it issued in 2023 for increased pumping from the Russian River and other waterways, but might be able to meet legal standards with an environmental review.

On the central legal issue in the case, however, the court rejected the county’s argument that such reviews of water wells are required only for the state, and not for local governments.

“Sonoma’s regulation of well permits carries with it an ‘affirmative duty to take the public trust into account,’” Justice Tara Desautels wrote in the 3-0 ruling, quoting language from another appellate decision.

Water, WildlifeCalifornia Coastkeeper Alliance, endangered species, groundwater, Russian River, Russian Riverkeeper, salmon, well monitoring, well ordinance, wells