Farm Progress

Lodi-area grape grower faces daunting cleanup, repairs from massive floods

Lodi-area grape grower Bill Berryhill says clean-up and repairs from January floods could take all year to complete

tfitchette, Associate Editor

March 15, 2017

17 Slides
Berryhill's deep clay soil is covered with a layer of sand and gravel after storm runoff breached levees next to his farm.Todd Fitchette

Bill Berryhill just laughs when he says the floods that caused this damage came from a small stream ironically named "Dry Creek."

Several times his grapes and walnuts were under water this year as runoff from heavy rains inundated his foothills farm.

The most severe and costly damage appears to be in a 100-acre block of Chardonnay grapes. Several acres will need to be removed, the ground renovated and vines replanted, Berryhill says.

Millions of yards of sand and gravel will also need to be removed. Those materials will likely be used to rebuild a couple levees that failed along the creek.

Berryhill is not the only victim of the floods. Others, he says, still have standing water in their vineyards in mid-March as the Mokelumne River remains high.

About the Author

tfitchette

Associate Editor, Western Farm Press

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