The Russian Riverkeeper Board of Directors and staff have selected Mark Greenspan as the finalist for this year’s Business Water Conservation Award. The award will be presented at this year's River Awards Gala on September 24th.

Mark was chosen because of all his work on vineyard irrigation efficiency and his 2012 Middle Reach Russian River Vineyard Irrigation Demonstration Project that provided valuable information on agronomic rates for irrigation with recycled water. These efforts help achieve one of the most important goals of achieving watershed resilience in the face of Climate Change by reducing water use and assisting with protecting high quality groundwater. 

Mark will be unable to attend the event, and the award will be accepted by one of Mark's associates. To quote Mark: "I would like to thank the Russian River Keepers for this honor. Our approach to precision water management provides for a very efficient use of water resources for wine grape growing. This benefits the grower in lower farming costs; benefits the winery in improved wine quality; and has the added benefit of water conservation. Grapevines are a very water-thrifty crop and we should be happy that they are a part of the landscape of this region."

Mark will be travelling to Chile at that time at the request of some of the Chilean growers. Mark will be speaking to growers on vineyard irrigation management and on state-of-the-art vineyards in the north coast. Mark hopes to gain some knowledge and experience from the Chilean growers and maybe even get a Wine Business Monthly column out of it!