Rhys fined $3.76M for illegally diverting water in Anderson Valley

Was surprised to read this:

https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/northbay/mendocinocounty/9858926-181/rhys-vineyards-mendocino-vineyard-water-rights-penalty

"The illegal and permanent loss of wetlands and streams caused by the vineyard construction was an egregious violation of state and federal law,” said Josh Curtis, assistant executive officer of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, in an announcement Friday.

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That guarantees I never buy their wine again! Thanks for the heads up!

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I wont buy their wines either.

Certainly was not expecting to read anything like this when I entered the forum.

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Don’t know the details, and how “egregious” the violations really were. But I’m laughing hard right now at the idea that whatever Rhys did is even a drop in the bucket compared to the integrated effects of pot farming around the county for all these years. I’ll continue to buy and enjoy Rhys wines, no problem.

That’s an expensive oversight on their part! Looks like the case is settled.

Was also surprised to read how many thousands of acres these greedy asshats are farming. I’ll do my best to try to make it cheaper for you but it sounds pretty blatant that they knew what they were doing. I guess I would encourage you not to support greedy pot farmers who destroy wetlands too?

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Brutal. Quite the fine. With all the quasi similar practices by other large and small wineries alike and all the marijuana farmers not adhering to many of the similar county/state rules & regs, it sounds like someone specifically called them out.

Yeah, I’m pretty dubious any time a prosecutor or regulatory agency claims actions were “egregious”. What do people expect, that they announce the violations were really minor and not worth pursuing? I’m not an expert on illegal water diversion and have no idea whether this is the case. Maybe they are, maybe they’re not, but I can’t possibly make that claim without more information. If true, I’d certainly be disappointed, though if I stopped buying wine from producers who did bad things, my cellar would look very different!

Where did you read that?

If you read the article, it states there was “unpermitted diversion of rainwater runoff” as well as “violation of state and federal law” hence the thread title of illegal diversion.

Someone who’s ITB should comment, but my understanding is that given how sacrosanct water rights are in droughty California, things like this don’t just happen by accident. I wonder if there was any admission of guilt in the settlement or if that was a negotiated point.

I’m naturally skeptical of regulations and regulators. People who set up rainwater collection systems for their house are also in violation of regulations in certain jurisdictions. Probably egregiously as well. I hope they don’t find my rainwater barrel stashed behind my house!

To everyone who isn’t going to buy Rhys because of this, I pose a follow up question:

Do you also boycott factory food farms, both meat and vegetable/fruit, that commit just as egregious crimes against nature? For that matter add in garment makers, energy companies, and petroleum manufacturers.

Is it not cool? Yes.
Is it going to make me stop buying Rhys? Nope.

Well, apparently two of the reservoirs were predated Rhys’ ownership of the property. The article says that enforcement has picked up in the past decade, so I wonder if this was something that was sort of ignored until more recently?

In the absence of more information, I don’t think this would significantly change my consideration of Rhys wines.

Amen! Me too.

To me it sounds like someone had an ax to grind here. Love Kevin. He did the right thing and paid and moved on.

A 20+ acre lake isn’t comparable to a backyard rain barrel; red herring fallacy.

Yes, confined animal feedlots are some of the worst offenders of multiple forms of air and water pollution. Check out Wendell Berry’s, Solving for Pattern: http://ceadserv1.nku.edu/longa/haiti/kids/history/Berry_Solving_for_Pattern.pdf

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Definitely not buying any of their wine.