Fish Friendly Farming
Reducing Erosion and Sediment in Our Rivers
by Barbara Barielle
Fish Friendly Farming (FFF) has a nice ring to it. It sounds like good sense—guidelines for how farmers, vintners, and everyone working in agriculture should approach the use of land so that they respect waterways, watersheds, rivers, and oceans in ways that allow the fish to thrive.
Thanks to both the implementation of FFF in Anderson Valley and Mendocino County and the willingness of farmers to adhere to its guidelines, the Navarro River is the one remaining tributary in California that still has Coho Salmon. Though plentiful in Oregon and Washington, the Coho in California are considered extremely endangered (California has other salmonid fish varieties like Steelhead and King).
The Fish Friendly Farming program was written by Laurel Marcus in 1999, and she continues to lead the program’s efforts today. Although originally written for the Russian River watershed, the plan was adapted to the Navarro and Gualala rivers as growers expressed interest. It was soon followed by a specific program for the Napa River watershed that was heartily adopted by the Napa County Grapegrowers with an over 95% participation level.
Anderson Valley is close to 80% participation and growing. Wineries and growers that have actively sought to farm in fish-friendly ways are big proponents, and continue to look for ways to enhance their practices to reduce and even eliminate run-off into waterways. And while many observers may believe that pesticides and fertilizers—or even cow manure—are the culprits bringing unfriendly elements into our streams and rivers, it is actually the remnants of another industry altogether—timber.
While less than 15% of the land in the Navarro River Watershed is comprised of vineyards, there were 35 working timber mills at the height of the lumber industry in Mendocino County. To get to the redwoods that were their focus, roads were cut into forestry areas for the passage of trucks. Once the trees had been removed, these temporary dirt roads were abandoned, leaving unfinished, unmanicured cuts across the land. Over time, these roads deteriorated, and silt and sediment flowed into waterways in the Navarro River Watershed.
Wineries and grape growers have a greater interest in keeping their lands intact and preserving healthy soils for the future, yet they still are plagued by these raw cut roads that criss-cross many of their properties. The FFF practices are a result of input from an advisory committee that included grapegrowers, representatives from government agencies, and environmental groups to produce a workbook of Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) and a Farm Conservation Plan Template.
In Anderson Valley, several wineries were early adopters and continue to employ fish-friendly practices as their wineries and related farming expand. Zac Robinson, manager of historic Husch Vineyards, currently owns two properties in the FFF program totaling about 80 acres of land and 40 acres of grapes. Husch implemented the program in 2000. “We like the FFF program because it puts a focus on choices and tradeoffs inherent with farming. It triggers thoughtful conversations—and sometimes debates—about the ‘right’ choices,” says Robinson.
“One FFF focus is on erosion,” continues Robinson. “Since we were no-till for decades, at the time we thought we had this issue solved 100%. But FFF reminded us about our ranch roads and culverts, and educated us on modern approaches to reduce erosion from these sources. We added water bars to our roads, built new culverts, and started the routine maintenance that is an important part of erosion control.”
Robinson points out that during the March 2023 downpours at Husch—which was one of the wettest 15-minute periods he has seen—soils held firm under the strain of massive runoff. It is also worth mentioning that the vineyards at Husch are seeing a golden age in terms of consistent quality and yield. Lots of factors contribute, but Robinson thinks it is fair to say that the FFF farm plan is part of the winning formula.
Director of Vineyards for Roederer Estate, Robert Gibson, also adheres to FFF at the winery’s massive ranch. “We have 620 acres of vines, 1280 acres overall, and all are certified FFF. I started certifying our ranches back in 2008,” says Gibson. “Some of the main things we did to assure compliance was grass filtration strips on all borders around the vineyard, ensuring that energy dissipators were installed on any culverts that may have erosion potential during large storms.”
Roederer also checks all drop inlets on drainage areas throughout the vineyard before the winter rains, keeping them clean and ensuring they have erosion prevention supplies on hand for possible emergency repairs. “It forced me to have a specific vineyard plan in place, and this review process made us more aware of any potential issues for the future,” says Gibson. “Annual photo monitoring is done and is essential to show progress in problem areas and document all the good work that we, as stewards of the land, are already doing.”
Sarah Cahn Bennett speaks with authority on Fish Friendly Farming as the manager of her parents’ historic ranch, Navarro Vineyards, as well as her own Pennyroyal Farm, where she raises goats, sheep, and grapevines. “Navarro Vineyards was one of the first ranches that Laurel certified. We certified the entire ranch, 910 acres (of which 110 acres are planted) sometime in early 2000,” says Bennett. “Pennyroyal, I believe, was certified when we planted the vineyard in 2008, but again we certified the entire ranch.”
Having written BMPs that everyone can go back to and use as a checklist is always great, she explains. “For both the ranches, there was a history of erosion. Navarro ranch was logged in the 1950, and most of the current roads were logging skid roads with many wash out points and ‘Humboldt crossings’ across the larger stream gullies.” Bennett continues, “Much of Pennyroyal’s Robinson Creek bank was stabilized with old cars and trash. So many of the improvements we saw were with improving the drainage systems around our roads and streams. We added a lot of rocks to disperse the energy of the water at the end of culverts. One of the larger projects we did with FFF wasworking on outsloping a half-mile road and eliminating some problem ditches. This road has required very little maintenance and has been a major improvement to the original road that was there.”
Bennett feels that having a FFF plan is incredibly helpful in a number of ways. “The plan does a great job of mapping and documenting your inventory and practices. As we have trained new vineyard managers or ranch managers, the maps all put us on the same page, and doing the certification and photo documentation turns their focus to erosion issues not only in the vineyard but around the entire ranch. The documentation has also helped us work with operators and other agencies to get funding for improvements to stream crossings and bank stabilizations with other agencies.”
Bennett continues, “I believe in regenerative agriculture and carbon farming. Both of our ranches also have carbon farm plans [CFP]. Although both plans are pretty similar, FFF is more about monitoring and CFP is more about current practice and identifying goals. But they both really have a lot of the same goals—improving monitoring and awareness of issues, documentation of progress or issues, and working with farmers on ways to improve their land.”
As these Anderson Valley farmers have discovered, Fish Friendly Farming is not only the right way to do things to protect and enhance watersheds, but it is relatively straightforward and has a lasting effect on the health of vineyards and surrounding ecosystems. It is not the only solution to the challenges involved in reducing harms inflicted on the environment by mainstream agricultural practices, but it is an important step in that direction.
Learn more about Anderson Valley wine, vineyards, and wineries at AVWines.com.
Barbara Barrielle is a freelance wine and travel writer as well as a film producer. She is also the press contact for Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association and can be reached at press@avwa.com. Follow her @barbarabarrielletravels.
Photo by Linda MacElwee