TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Tracy Cleveland - Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights & Measures
REPORT BY: Jaspreet Faller - Staff Services Analyst
SUBJECT: Reauthorization of the Napa County Winegrape Pest and Disease Control District
RECOMMENDATION
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Adopt a Resolution reauthorizing the existence of the Napa County Winegrape Pest and Disease Control District for another five-year term through 2032. (Fiscal Impact: $385,000 Revenue; General Fund; Budgeted; Discretionary)
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BACKGROUND
On March 26, 2002, the Napa County Board of Supervisors created the Napa County Winegrape Pest and Disease Control District (District) in accordance with the procedures of Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 6292) of Part 1 of Division 4 of the Food and Agriculture Code. The purpose of the District is to assist in the funding of inspection, detection and education activities regarding the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter (GWSS), an important vector of Pierce’s Disease, a fatal disease of grapevines. GWSS is not established in Napa County, however, there was a find close to home in Solano County. The district also addresses other pest and diseases that attack winegrape plants. The term of the District is for five years; the present term expires in March 2027. Continuance of the District’s existence beyond March 2027 requires Board of Supervisors reauthorization of the District, as allowed by provisions of Food and Agriculture Code Section 6294.3. The Board of Directors of the District (District Board), after complying with the applicable statutory noticing requirements, held a public hearing on August 19, 2026 to determine whether the conditions of Pierce’s Disease, GWSS, and other grapevine pests or diseases warranted the reauthorization of the District for an additional five-year period. The Napa County Agricultural Commissioner prepared and presented a report to the District Board recommending that the District’s existence be extended for an additional five-year term. The District Board concurred with the recommendation and adopted a Resolution recommending the Board of Supervisors reauthorize the District’s existence for an additional five-year period until March 26, 2032.
The District’s funding is provided through an assessment on qualifying property owners, allowing Napa County to have a comprehensive GWSS program. The assessment pays for GWSS exclusion and detection activities that are not funded by the State but deemed necessary by the District to protect Napa County’s world class vineyards. The District sets the per-acre assessment annually and the amount of the assessment changes from year to year, based on the changes in the County’s winegrape acreage and District work plan activities. The assessment for FY2026-27 is $12.00 per acre. Each year, over 1,300 GWSS traps are placed and monitored biweekly in residential settings, in and around nurseries, and in vineyards. Nearly 2,500 plant shipments are inspected annually that are delivered to nurseries, garden centers, and landscape sites. GWSS continues to infest most Southern California counties, from where large wholesale nurseries ship many of the landscape plants sold in Napa County.
In the spring of 2006, Napa’s growers were asked to vote on whether they wanted to expand the District’s use of assessments to include work on the other pests threatening Napa vineyards. The pest the District was most concerned about at the time was the Vine Mealybug (VMB), a tiny insect that was accidentally introduced in Napa County in the early 2000’s. VMB is a difficult pest to control and can render grapes unstable for wine and weakens and kills grape vines. Growers voted overwhelmingly in favor of expanding the use of the assessments, showing strong support for the work of the District and Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, who had already initiated a VMB control program when the insect was first found in the County. Growers are updated on the District funded activities as well as the status of the pest’s spread through continuing education classes and seminars.
In 2014, the District began funding a “sentinel” trapping program with the aim of being proactive in surveying for new winegrape pests that could be introduced into Napa County. The program was implemented for four lepidopterous pests of grapes not known to be established in California or the United States: Honeydew Moth, European Grape Berry Moth, Grape Berry Moth, and Grape Tortrix Moth. The seven-year battle to eradicate the European Grapevine Moth (EGVM) in 2016 cost Napa County growers about $50 million to treat for the pest. An additional $50 million was spent by Federal, State and county departments of agriculture to manage the quarantine activities. The aim of the sentinel program is to detect pests early before they become widespread and costly to eradicate or manage, as was the case with EGVM.
In March 2027, the District’s current five-year term expires. There is still no cure for Pierce’s Disease - the grapevine killing bacterium that is spread by native insect vectors and the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter, which has not been allowed to establish in Napa County. Napa County agricultural inspectors continue to find viable GWSS egg masses on shipments of plants coming from Southern California and ship those plants back to the county of origin. VMB continues to spread to new vineyards and the need to be proactive in surveying for new pests of winegrapes is of paramount importance to the winegrape industry.
Requested Action:
Adopt a Resolution re-authorizing the Napa County Winegrape Pest and Disease Control District for another five-year term, though March 26, 2032.
FISCAL IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
Yes |
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Is it currently budgeted? |
Yes |
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Where is it budgeted? |
Agricultural Commissioner |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
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Discretionary Justification: |
Re-authorization of the District will ensure that Napa County’s agricultural industry is optimally protected from the losses that occur if Glassy-winged Sharpshooter (GWSS) were introduced or established. In addition, re-authorization will allow the local winegrape growers to continue to share in the funding of County and District GWS program expenditures that exceeds the standards mandated by California quarantine regulations. |
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Is the general fund affected? |
Yes |
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Future fiscal impact: |
If the District is re-authorized for an additional five-year term, future fiscal impacts will be similar to the FY26-27 budgeted amounts. The total estimated cost for the Agricultural Commissioner to implement the FY26-27 work plans is $902,675 with direct funding coming from CDFA ($170,200), the County ($251,550) and District assessments ($480,925). |
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Consequences if not approved: |
If this item is not approved, funding will be not available to continue the comprehensive programs to keep unwanted pests out of our County. The threat of introduction and establishment of the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter will increase, putting Napa’s vineyards and the economy at risk. |
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Additional Information |
Strategic Initiative: Stewardship & Resilience |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.