(PD) - Environmentalists are mobilizing in protest of a would-be bill backed by the local wine industry that would create an irrigation district intended to protect the water rights of about 1,000 grape growers in the Russian River region.

Noting that Sonoma County is facing “urgent water supply” problems unique to the Russian River watershed, the legislation — proposed by the United Winegrowers of Sonoma County — would create a segmented district covering five viticultural areas in Alexander, Knights, Dry Creek, Russian River and Bennett valleys, which produce the county’s priciest wine grapes.

The move comes in fourth year of California’s historic drought, when competing claims for dwindling supplies and state moves to safeguard stream flows have set some rural landowners under mandatory cutbacks against grape growers who have so far faced no such restrictions.

Activists involved in the escalating debate over winery expansion and vineyards’ unlimited use of water were alarmed by a published report last month that said state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, was “quietly sponsoring” the bill, and they intend to protest at McGuire’s annual town hall meeting Thursday night at the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors chambers.

McGuire said he had received a copy of the proposed bill from Bob Anderson, executive director of the United Winegrowers for Sonoma County, who handles the local wine industry’s political affairs. In response, McGuire said he advised the wine industry and environmental factions that all sides need to agree on a “collaborative solution” before he would consider carrying any legislation.

“There is no bill,” he said, noting that the deadline for filing legislation this year has passed.

McGuire said he would only consider a measure “after a robust local public process including every stakeholder at the table,” including urban and rural water users, agriculture and environmental interests.

Shepherd Bliss, a Sebastopol activist and berry farmer, said there was a “lack of transparency” in the formulation of the proposed bill to create a Russian River Irrigation District, which he said would “usurp state authority over water.”

“This is a classic water grab,” Bliss said. “In our society we should all have equal access to water.”

Anderson, who represents 250 wineries and growers, said the district is intended to represent agriculture in a groundwater management agency that Sonoma County, by state law, must establish by June 2017.