Punishing Bay Area Drought Prompts Calls for Major Water Rethink

Each morning for months, Amelia Morán Ceja has peered out her window, searching Sonoma’s wine country for dark clouds or the residue of rain on the leaves of her grapevines.

Her searching has proved futile, and now she’s worried as California faces its third consecutive summer with drought.

The dry conditions threaten her thirsty vines at Ceja Vineyards and elevate the risk from fire and heat waves. The triple threat is a “perfect storm during harvest,” she said.