(GoodFruit) - Washington State’s wineries are as diverse as the wines they produce. How wineries handle wastewater is just as varied, which makes developing a new general wastewater permit that can be tailored to fit all winery sizes a unique challenge.

The Washington State Department of Ecology, working with the state’s wine industry for more than two years, recently announced a timeline for developing a new winery general permit for wastewater. Though some believe it is an optimistic timeline, the first preliminary draft is scheduled for release in August.

After the draft goes through a 45-day public comment period, a formal draft is scheduled for release in January 2016 (with another 45-day comment period), and the new permit effective date would be next March.

A wine industry wastewater stakeholders group will work with Ecology in drafting the permit and provide feedback as part of the rulemaking process. Although the group has yet to see any draft language, it has already asked that the preliminary draft be released when industry has time to provide meaningful comments and not in the throes of crush, which begins in August and usually concludes in mid- to late November.

The stakeholders group includes statewide wine grape grower and winery trade associations, Winerywise, Washington Wine Industry Foundation, small and large wineries, and wastewater engineers and consultants.

The group, through the Wine Industry Foundation, recently conducted a confidential survey of Washington wineries to get a better handle on winery demographics and better understand the different ways wineries are currently handling wastewater and discharge, said Joy Andersen, chair of the Winerywise steering committee.

Andersen, based in Prosser, is senior winemaker for the state’s largest wine producer Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.