Napa County grapples with groundwater pumping fees

Napa County could try to ease the sticker shock that some grape growers are receiving from the soon-to-begin groundwater pumping fees for the Napa Valley floor. By how much may not be known until July 28. That’s when county supervisors, for the first time, are scheduled to adopt groundwater pumping fees for the Napa Valley subbasin. But decisions that supervisors are making during 2026-27 budget hearings affect the fees that are to appear on property tax bills. The fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. Supervisors could wrap up their budget work when they meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the county administration building, 1195 Third St. in downtown Napa. One budget is for the state-mandated county Groundwater Sustainability Agency tasked with ensuring the Napa Valley subbasin isn't overpumped. Pumping fees are meant to help pay for the program. Since many wells aren’t metered, the county can’t base the fees on how much water a farmer uses. Instead, it is using a formula. Well users have already gotten a taste of what might be. Last year, supervisors set maximum fees of $38.58 per planted acre and an additional $60.16 per irrigated acre, for a total of $98.74 per irrigated acre. Rural homeowners and businesses using wells and public water systems would pay a different set of fees. These are worst-case scenarios. Supervisors last December set the cap for fees, with actual fees for any given year tied to the how much money the agency needs, how many acres are irrigated and other factors. Still, the worst-case scenarios left a bad taste in the mouth for many in the wine industry. The Napa Valley Grapegrowers' executive director, Caleb Mosley, said one Oakville grower faces a $12,800 fee. “This is on top of an already difficult landscape that we’re operating within,” he told supervisors on June 16. Michelle Novi of Napa Valley Vintners said the wine industry is being squeezed from every possible angle. Demand for wine is going down and there are other struggles. “To have this fee come now is very difficult for our members and our industry to weather,” she said. Napa County Farm Bureau CEO Peter Rumble said research shows county agriculture is on the edge when it comes to being economically viable. The bulk of regulatory costs are from state and federal regulations. A previously released study done for the Farm Bureau by two Cal Poly San Luis Obispo agribusiness professors found the owner of a large vineyard interviewed in 2025 paid $1.7 million in regulatory costs, or $1,744 per acre. That was 12% of production costs. Rumble cited the study. “Not your board’s fault … but we ask that your board consider not making the problem even worse,” he told supervisors. Wine industry representatives didn’t ask supervisors to erase the planned groundwater pumping fees, but they requested some degree of relief. Supervisor Liz Alessio talked about the amount of tax dollars, jobs and charitable giving that come from the wine industry. Now the county needs to be there for the wine industry, she said. “I think this is a time we do what we can,” Alessio said. Napa County has been giving about $2 million annually to the groundwater agency out of the general fund. The fees are intended to allow the county to shrink that contribution to $500,000. The county isn’t proposing to increase that $500,000 general fund contribution. Rather, a county report said carryover funds could be used to shrink the anticipated revenues from the fees from $2.1 million to $931,000. Supervisors will consider the proposal on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the county is reviewing information from property owners, such as whether they dry-farm or have removed vineyards. This will help the county calculate the upcoming fees, county spokesperson Holly Dawson said. “It is too early to determine the exact fee that individual property owners will be assessed for fiscal year 2026-27,” Dawson told the Napa Valley Register. The groundwater fees will be charged to well users only in the Napa Valley subbasin that runs on the valley floor from Calistoga to south of the city of Napa. People in the Carneros, mountains and other areas will not pay pumping fees. Most water for local cities comes from reservoirs and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. But a county report from last December said city dwellers have a stake in the subbasin's health, given groundwater helps irrigate Napa Valley agriculture that ranks among the most valuable in the world. “Both past and current efforts to achieve sustainability for the subbasin hold implications for all those who live or work in the county,” the report said. The county Groundwater Sustainability Agency is a result of California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014. The state is requiring such agencies for high- and medium-priority groundwater basins throughout California. Failure by local agencies to meet sustainability goals can result in the state temporarily managing a basin. The Napa County Groundwater Sustainability Agency intends to reduce overall groundwater use in the Napa Valley subbasin by 10%. Its goals include increasing water conservation and perhaps using surface water to recharge the subbasin.