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St. Helena, CA – The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board has announced that property owners working with Fish Friendly Farming and LandSmart, the two approved farm plan providers for Napa Green Land, can satisfy new vineyard erosion control rules by participating in Napa County’s signature environmental certification program.
In 1998 the Environmental Protection Agency declared the Napa River impaired and the State Water Board set reduction standards for “Total Maximum Daily Load” or TMDL of fine sediment into the river. In response, the Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) trade association led collaborative efforts with industry partners, community nonprofits, regulatory officials and Fish Friendly Farming to develop Napa Green Certified Land. The first property was certified in 2004.
In 2007, building on the success of the Napa Green Land program, NVV collaborated with Napa County and the California Green Business Program to develop the Napa Green Certified Winery program, creating a comprehensive, soil to bottle sustainability certification.
In 2015, the NVV set the goal that all its eligible members will be in Napa Green by the end of 2020. To help meet growing interest in the program, LandSmart was added as an approved certification pathway for Napa Green Land later that year.
“The NVV is proud to proactively support programs that are not only good for our environment, but also help our members address regulatory concerns,” said Linda Reiff, president and CEO of the NVV. “We’re grateful to everyone associated with Fish Friendly Farming and LandSmart for their partnership, advocacy and communication with the Regional Water Quality Control Board to help Napa County landowners not only meet but exceed regulatory requirements and continue to demonstrate our region’s long-standing commitment to environmental leadership.”
To date, more than 200 landowners are participating in the Napa Green Land program and more than half of all Napa County vineyard acres are certified. As of late 2017, NVV was more than halfway to meeting its 2020 participation goal.
Napa County vineyard and winery owners can learn more about Napa Green and begin the path to certification at napagreen.org.
Napa Green is a comprehensive environmental certification program for vineyards and wineries in Napa County and one of the most comprehensive environmental accreditations in the wine industry. The program takes a soil to bottle approach, integrating sustainable management practices at every step of the winemaking process. Napa Green Land and Winery owners are independently certified by third-party entities. The Land program works with Napa Valley property owners to assess their whole parcel and develop a custom farm plan. Each plan must meet and exceed environmental compliance requirements, reduce soil loss and preserve and restore sensitive habitats. The Winery program works with producers to help them understand their water and energy use and waste management. Each participant receives an audit and detailed report to help them optimize facility resource use. Learn more at napagreen.org.
The Napa Valley Vintners nonprofit trade association has been cultivating excellence since 1944 by inspiring its 540 members to consistently produce wines of the highest quality, to provide environmental leadership and to care for the extraordinary place they call home. Learn more at napavintners.com.
Making the commitment to third party certification takes time and effort, but it is worth it to demonstrate our commitment to the community and to protect our watershed, our land and the air we breathe.