ACAMPO, Calif. — Lodi area grape grower Layne Montgomery is still in disbelief as he looks upon his 17 acres, nearly four acres planted, under water.
"It looks like a big, fat mess to me," said Montgomery, wearing knee high waders and sloshing around in his flooded vineyard. "It's bewildering. This happened so fast. We are in a state of shock really still."
Montgomery owns the m2 Winery off E. Peltier Road in Acampo. With 19 years in the wine business, he's never seen his property flood this badly before.
The severe flooding happened Sunday as water quickly began filling up his vineyard stocked seven varieties of wine grapes.
"Right now I think we're fine with the water not hurting the vines because they're dormant, but once the vines come out of dormancy I'm just praying this is going to be dried out by then," said Montgomery.
95% of m2 Wine's business is direct to consumer meaning people come to the winery to purchase their wine.
But, with the parking lots flooded, they can't.
Fortunately, he also sells his wine on his website, allowing some customers to get their orders without having to come to the location.
The Lodi Wine growing region has 85 wineries, 750 growers and 100,000 acres.
According to the Lodi Winegrape Commission, 20% of the premium wines sold in California are from the Lodi grape growing region.
The Lodi Winegrape Commission says water in vineyards isn't a problem and should drain off.
But what if it doesn't?
"If they continue to stay under water for months at a time which we might see with some of the vineyards along the Mokelumne River where they continue to release a lot of water out of Camanche that can become problematic later in the spring," says Stuart Spencer of the Lodi Winegrape Commission.
Spencer also says the flooding is beneficial for vineyards for a few reasons.
"One is we're replenishing the ground water and the soil moisture so the vines should have a good start once the growing season comes. Two, the standing water is also going to kill some vineyard pests that reside in the soil in the winter months," added Spencer.
For growers flooded out like Layne Montgomery, at the moment, it's literally wade and see.
"There's just nothing that can be done about this right now except not give up I guess," added Montgomery.
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