Napa River Watershed Profile
SFEI analyzed historical and current conditions of the Napa watershed in terms of hydrology, sediment, channel morphology and habitat to develop a geographic framework for solving agricultural management challenges related to the 303(d) listing of sediment (impaired water quality). A complete picture of past and present condition of the watershed provides a context for an analysis of future management possibilities.
Map courtesy of the Regional Water Board
SFEI partnered with the Napa County Resource Conservation District and the Napa County Farm Bureau to develop a watershed-based framework for addressing agricultural management challenges related to improving the health of the Napa River ecosystem. In particular, the project sought to identify possible adaptive management measures that could allow the State Water Board to declare the Napa River unimpaired under section 303(d) of the US Clean Water Act.
Napa Watershed Profile - Goals and Objectives
Photo courtesy of Mike Napolitano
Regional Water Board
This project, funded through a Proposition 40 Agricultural Water Quality Program Grant awarded by the State Water Resources Control Board is designed to develop a geographic framework for solving agricultural management challenges related to the 303(d) listing of sediment. The project will use a watershed-based approach to meet the following goals:
- Fill information gaps that currently prevent evaluation of alternative restoration and management alternatives required for removal of the Napa River from the 303(d) list of waters impaired by sediment
- Utilize existing partnerships in the Napa River watershed to promote technical transfer and monitoring guidance to landowners in prioritized reaches of the Napa River and major tributaries and to assist in the preparation of implementation plans.
Project objectives:
- Compare and contrast the historical and current aquatic habitat mosaics of the Napa River ecosystem, with a focus on the Napa River and its tributaries within the Napa Valley;
- Identify how land use changes have contributed to current undesirable conditions in the ecosystem;
- Describe relationship between agricultural land use practices and the major attributes of a highly functioning, healthy river ecosystem;
- Identify management approaches or practices that could help improve the health of the river ecosystem;
- Increase understanding within the agricultural community of the Napa River Watershed about the relationships between past and present agricultural practices and river health;
- Expand regular forums for transferring information from this project to the local agricultural community.
Key Findings in Napa
Hydrology changes
Agricultural ditches are now commonplace and have resulted in a much higher degree of hydrological connectivity between the hillsides, fans, valley floor, and the mainstem of the river. Whereas under pre-settlement conditions multiple channels (distributaries) were associated with wetlands, today, agricultural, flood protection and water supply needs promote maintenance of single-thread channels. The total length of the drainage network in the valley has increased by about 25% as a result of these changes - not including storm drains or sub-surface agricultural drains. The total length of tributary channels that are directly connected to the main stem has increased by about 50%. There has been a slight increase in the length of the main stem due to its artificial channelization through historically braided reaches where no single-thread main stem channel had previously existed. The total length of secondary or overflow channels along the valley floor (historically called “sloughs”) has dramatically decreased.
The historical hydrograph is remarkably different than the modern hydrograph. The historical hydrograph is much broader and flatter. This is probably due to historical changes in land cover (loss of wetlands, loss of forest, increases in urbanization and agriculture), storage of runoff in wetlands and as groundwater, reduced surface connectivity between some tributaries and the mainstem, and the distribution of high flows across the valley floor. Approximately 50% of current urban and agricultural lands were converted from grassland/savanna, 25% from forest and 25% from wetlands. Runoff occurs much more rapidly under the modern conditions described above, and in comparison to the historic hydrograph, the overall discharge volume is higher.
Napa Watershed Profile - Science Advisory and Review Group
The primary duties of the Napa SARG are to advise and review the interim and final products produced through SFEI under its Agricultural Waiter Quality Grant. Advice and review can pertain to any and all aspects of the project, from its scope and schedule to the details of reports and the relationship between this project and others.
|
Name |
Organization |
|
Expertise |
|
Tim Beechie |
NOAA Fisheries |
tim.beechie |
Geomorphology/Fisheries |
|
Phill Blake |
USDA-NRCS |
phillip.blake |
Local Napa/Ag practices |
|
Josh Collins |
SFEI |
josh |
Project Team |
|
Laurel Collins |
Watershed Sciences |
collins |
Geomorphology |
|
Andy Collison |
PWA |
a.collison |
Geomorphology/Modeling |
|
Sandy Elles |
Napa County Farm Bureau |
selles |
Project Team |
|
Robin Grossinger |
SFEI |
robin |
Project Team |
|
Cristina Grosso |
SFEI |
cristina |
Project Tem |
|
Joe Hevesi |
USGS |
jhevesi |
Groundwater/Hydrology |
|
Rainer Hoenicke |
SFEI |
rainer |
Project Team |
|
Todd Keeler-Wolf |
CDFG |
tkwolf |
Riparian/Vegetation |
|
Jonathan Koehler |
Napa RCD |
jonathan |
Project Team |
|
Ken Lajoie |
Independent Consultant |
klajoie |
Chair/Geology |
|
Robert Leidy |
USEPA San Francisco |
leidy.robert |
Fisheries |
|
Lester McKee |
SFEI |
lester |
Project Team |
|
Mike Napolitano |
SWQCB |
mnapolitano |
Napa/TMDL |
|
Joe Schubauer-Berigan |
USEPA NRMRL |
schubauer-berigan.joseph |
Modeling |
|
Leigh Sharp |
Napa RCD |
leigh |
Project Team |
|
Dave Steiner |
Napa RCD |
dave |
Project Team |
noaa.gov
Past Meetings
Photo courtesy of Mike Napolitano Regional Water BoardNapa Scientific Advisory and Review Group (SARG) Meetings
May 31, 2007
Minutes and Comments
Handouts
- Draft modern climatology and hydrology report
- Napa Analysis Plan 4-25-07
- Napa River Historical Ecology DRAFT
Presentations
- Project Status and Meeting Introduction
- Napa River Watershed Landscape Change Storyboards
- Historical Landscape Form and Function Presentation
- Modern Climate and Hydrology - McKee & Gilbreath
- Developing a monitoring plan for the Napa River Watershed
- Sediment budget pie charts
October 19, 2006
Handouts
- 1b Project Matrix 8/24/06
- 1c Draft Work Plan and Steps
- 2 Draft SARG Duty Statement
- 2a Expected Outcomes and Meeting Timeline
- 4 TMDL objectives and Hypotheses v3
- 5a Land Use Eras
- 6 NRCS in Napa County
- 6a Fish Friendly Farming
- 6b ECPA Subasins Only
- 6c Napa Vineyards
- 6d TCPs Exempted
- 6d TCPs Exempted
Presentations
Napa Valley Historical Ecology Study
Project Overview
Over the past several years, Friends of the Napa River, the Napa County Resource Conservation District, and SFEI have carried out investigations into the historical Napa Valley landscape. This research provides baseline information about local landscape conditions and potential future restoration scenarios on the valley floor. This collaborative effort will culminate in a richly illustrated Atlas, to be published by UC Press in 2012.
Pre-order a copy of the Atlas
from University of California Press
For more information please contact
Friends of the Napa River or Robin Grossinger.
Funders
California Coastal Conservancy
Friends of the Napa River
Napa County
Napa County Wildlife Conservation Commission (WCC)
Napa Valley Vintners
Documents
The Historical Ecology of Napa Valley: an Introduction (8 page brochure, 2008)
(PDF, 5MB)
High Resolution version
(PDF , 34MB)
Streams, Wetlands, and Woodlands in Napa Valley: New Perspectives from Old Maps (poster, 2007)
(PDF, 3MB)
Ecological, Geomorphic, and the Land Use History of the Carneros Creek Watershed (report, 2004)
(PDF, 1MB)
Ecological, Geomorphic, and Land Use History of the Sulphur Creek Watershed (report, 2004)
(PDF, 13MB)
GIS Data
GIS data and metadata are available for download
Press
Carneros Creek
The Carneros Creek watershed has been shaped by a unique and intensive history during the past 200 years and before. Descriptions in the earliest European accounts of the watershed provide direct evidence of indigenous management of the watershed through the use of fire. Following Spanish conquest, Carneros Creek was characterized by a land use history that diverges from other parts of the region, with relatively early, high intensity grazing during the Mexican Rancho era and persistent ranching activity through the 20th century. Several inherent geographic and physical characteristics of the watershed have helped reduce population growth and the maintenance of ecological resources. These include relatively limited groundwater resources; a naturally narrow, single-thread channel; and Carneros’ particular geographic position away from the major fertile valleys of the North Bay, and bordered by the vast Napa-Sonoma marshlands.
Partners
Napa County Resource Conservation District
Friends of Napa River
Funding
Report
Sulphur Creek
The Sulphur Creek watershed is characterized by a number of specific and locally uncommon landscape
features that together have shaped the ways of life of the peoples who have settled in the watershed.
This combination – including redwood forests, unstable hillsides, warm water springs, a braided channel,
a broad alluvial fan, a stream running through an unusually large valley oak grove -- led to early logging,
the development of a resort by the early 1850s, and a continued position as a center for American
settlement in the upper Napa Valley.
Partners
Napa County Resource Conservation District
Friends of Napa River