August 13, 2025
In the heart of California’s North Coast AVA, the pursuit of exceptional wine is inextricably linked to the purity and availability of water. While irrigation and winemaking processes command much attention, the equally critical, yet often less discussed, aspect for wineries is drinking water management and compliance. Ensuring safe, reliable potable water for your employees, tasting room visitors, and residential staff isn’t just a best practice; it’s a legal obligation and fundamental to your winery’s health and reputation.
At Epsilon Water/Epsilon Consulting, we specialize in helping North Coast AVA wineries navigate the specific challenges and evolving regulations surrounding their drinking water supplies.
Understanding Your Drinking Water Sources
For many North Coast wineries, drinking water comes from one of two primary sources:
- Private Wells: Many rural vineyards and wineries rely on groundwater pumped from private wells. This self-supplied water carries specific responsibilities for ensuring its quality and compliance.
- Public Water Systems: Wineries located within municipal boundaries or served by a community water provider receive potable water that has already undergone treatment and monitoring. However, even then, internal plumbing and usage practices remain important.
This post will primarily focus on the considerations for wineries using private well water for drinking, as these operations bear the full burden of ensuring potable standards.
Evolving Regulations & Their Impact on Winery Drinking Water
California’s regulatory landscape is dynamic, with significant shifts directly impacting drinking water management, even for private systems:
1. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and Well Integrity
While often associated with agricultural pumping, SGMA’s primary goal is long-term groundwater sustainability, which inherently includes the aquifers supplying private drinking water wells.
How SGMA impacts your drinking water well:
- Water Level Stability: GSPs (Groundwater Sustainability Plans) aim to prevent “chronic lowering of groundwater levels” by 2042. This directly addresses the risk of private drinking water wells going dry, a devastating scenario for any winery property.
- Quality Protection: GSPs also focus on preventing “degradation of water quality.” This is crucial for drinking water, as it means local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) are developing plans to protect aquifers from contaminants that could render well water unsafe for consumption.
- Monitoring Requirements: Depending on your basin, you may see new or enhanced groundwater monitoring requirements, which can indirectly inform you about the health of your drinking water source.
- Well Permitting & Management: SGMA is leading to more stringent permitting for new wells and potentially increased scrutiny on existing wells, all aimed at protecting the overall groundwater basin from overdraft and quality issues.
2. The Vineyard Order (Waste Discharge Requirements): Protecting the Source
Adopted on June 12, 2025, by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, the Vineyard Order mandates practices to control sediment, nutrient, and pesticide discharges from vineyards.
How the Vineyard Order protects drinking water:
- Reduced Contamination Risk: By minimizing the runoff of these substances, the order directly reduces the potential for them to infiltrate groundwater or contaminate surface water bodies that might serve as drinking water sources downstream.
- Proactive Management: It encourages proactive vineyard management that benefits not just environmental health, but also the safety of water that could eventually reach a drinking water well.
3. Winery Process Water Regulations (Statewide Winery Order): Preventing Pollution
The Statewide General Waste Discharge Requirements for Winery Process Water, adopted January 20, 2021, regulates wastewater from winemaking.
How this regulation safeguards drinking water quality:
- Direct Source Protection: This order aims to prevent process water (which can be high in organic matter, salts, and nitrogen) from degrading groundwater and surface water. For wineries relying on onsite wells for drinking water, preventing the contamination of shallow or deeper aquifers by process water is paramount.
- Best Management Practices (BMPs): Implementation of required BMPs for managing wastewater (e.g., proper pond lining, controlled land application, spill prevention) directly minimizes the risk of harmful substances leaching into the ground and impacting drinking water wells.
Essential Drinking Water Management & Compliance for Wineries
For North Coast AVA wineries utilizing private wells for potable water, proactive management and strict adherence to safe drinking water practices are non-negotiable:
- Regular Water Testing: This is the cornerstone of drinking water safety.
- Bacteriological Testing: Regular testing for coliform bacteria (indicators of potential fecal contamination) is crucial, especially after well maintenance, heavy rains, or any changes to the system.
- Chemical Analysis: Periodic testing for nitrates, inorganic chemicals (like arsenic, lead, chromium, perchlorate, which are naturally occurring in some California soils), and other potential contaminants is vital, especially given agricultural activities in vineyard areas.
- Certified Labs: All testing must be conducted by state-certified laboratories to ensure accuracy and compliance with California’s Title 22 Drinking Water Standards.
- Wellhead Protection:
- Physical Barriers: Ensure wellheads are properly sealed and protected from surface runoff, animal intrusion, and chemical spills.
- Setbacks: Maintain appropriate setbacks from potential contamination sources like septic systems, waste discharge areas, and chemical storage.
- Treatment Systems:
- If testing reveals contaminants exceeding Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs), appropriate treatment systems (e.g., filtration, disinfection, reverse osmosis) must be installed and maintained. Regular maintenance and monitoring of these systems are essential to ensure they remain effective.
- Cross-Connection Control:
- Prevent any possibility of non-potable water (e.g., irrigation water, process water) mixing with your potable water supply through proper backflow prevention devices.
- Employee Health & Safety:
- Ensure all staff have access to safe drinking water throughout the property. Provide clear information on water quality and any necessary precautions.
- Emergency Preparedness:
- Have a plan in place for alternative drinking water sources in case of well contamination, power outages, or other emergencies.
Epsilon Water/Epsilon Consulting: Your Partner in Potable Water Security
Navigating the complexities of drinking water management and compliance can be challenging for busy winery owners. Epsilon Water/Epsilon Consulting offers specialized expertise to help you ensure the safety and reliability of your potable water supply:
- Comprehensive Water Quality Assessments: We conduct thorough testing and analysis of your well water to identify potential contaminants and ensure compliance with state and federal drinking water standards.
- Reporting Assistance: We guide you through any necessary and ongoing reporting requirements.
- Treatment System Design & Optimization: If treatment is needed, we coordinate and facilitate effective solutions tailored to your specific water quality challenges.
- Wellhead Protection & Best Practices: We advise on and help facilitate practices to protect your well infrastructure and prevent contamination.
- SGMA & Regulatory Insight: We keep you informed about how broader water regulations impact your private drinking water sources, helping you stay ahead of compliance.
Your winery’s future is deeply rooted in the health of our environment and the quality of our water. Let Epsilon Water/Epsilon Consulting be your trusted partner in protecting this most precious resource.
Contact Epsilon Water/Epsilon Consulting today to ensure your winery’s drinking water is safe, compliant, and sustainable for generations to come.
- Phone: 707-333-9167
- Email: michael@epsilonwater.com
- Website: www.epsilonwater.com
