Local wine grape grower Brad Goehring to speak at Rotary Sunrise

Brad Goehring, a local wine grape grower based in Clements, understands how difficult it can be to comply with the existing federal Clean Water Act. In 2004, his family was ordered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to cease and desist for alleged Clean Water Act violations.

But this was not the only time that the Clean Water Act was "misinterpreted or misrepresented" in such a way as to impede his family's agricultural operations.

With the introduction of H.R. 2421, which deletes the word 'navigable' from the original law, Goehring believes nearly every wet area in the nation would come under federal jurisdiction, even if only wet for a few days.

Goehring believes that if new legislation (H.R. 2421) currently under consideration were to pass, it would require farmers and ranchers to obtain federal permits in an area traditionally regulated by the state. This would drive up the cost and time associated with managing stock ponds, ditches, gutters and possibly even groundwater and could greatly decrease land values.

He will be the features speaker at the Lodi Sunrise Rotary Club meeting on Wednesday at Oak Ridge Winery (6100 Victor Road, Lodi). The meeting starts at 7 a.m. and concludes at 8 a.m. An optional breakfast buffet is available for $10.

For more information, contact Ralph Cesena Jr. at 518-1331, or visit the club's website at www.LodiSunriseRotary.org