Letter Writer Concerned About Requirement for No Diversionary Water in Cannabis Cultivation
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Planning Commission meeting
General Comment for Thursday 2-18-21
Recently I have had reason to research the requirements for cultivation under the 2.0 Cannabis Cultivation ordinance. The requirement for no diversionary water to be used is problematic.
The intent of this requirement seems to stem from a desire to protect the rivers and other surface waters from depletion by taking too much for farming of cannabis…an admirable goal. The other option allowed under this law is to pump water from a non diversionary, groundwater well. Unfortunately in the geology of our county such water doesn’t really exist. The research I’ve done leads me to believe this area doesn’t have confined aquifers on bedrock. Even in areas of the arid western states that do have such geology, wells have caused unforeseen disastrous consequences. You all have read of areas where the soil collapses after years of depletion from pumping out the groundwater. Groundwater must be replenished by precipitation at a rate equal or greater than it is being pumped out, or the aquifer will fail.
This Ordinance has created the need for many new wells to be drilled in our steep, fragile geological terrain. It may take a few years for the consequences to become apparent. The first results will be drying of the streams and creeks immediately around the wells. This affects the humans and wildlife in the area closest to the wells. I have heard this is already happening here in Southern Humboldt. Next the rivers will shrink. We already have had this experience in the Mattole and the Eel near Rio Dell. As the hillsides lose the subsurface water they will be begin to erode. The trees and plants will dry out and die bringing the danger of wildfire to greater intensity.
It seems to me if the Ordinance meant to preserve the environment and the rivers by limiting the water to non diversionary sources then the answer is not to allow wells just by calling them non diversionary. Uphold the intention of the Ordinance and restrict the size of the farms by what the environment can actually support. Perhaps amending the 2.0 to be more like the original ordinance and allow diversion in the winter months. That would help protect our countryside from the disastrous path we now face with the threat from the withdrawal of groundwater.
The other element that is not being considered is that the only monitoring requirement is to put a meter on the well. Who is going to record and log the meter readings?
Where are those well logs kept? Are they kept regularly? They should be available to the inhabitants of the area affected by the well.
Thank you for your careful consideration of these important matters,
Susan Jacobsen
Planning Commission meeting
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
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It is obvious that local Pot Farmers are intent upon diverting every tributary, sucking the aquifer dry, and pumping the rivers into plastic tanks until Humboldt/Trinity?and Mendo turn into deserts…
Growing Marijuana in Northern California has already caused an extreme amount of degradation to the environment and also the society, as it is, on the North Coast…
Obviously, there is not enough water to do what you do!
Oppose expanding dope farming in Humboldt! No matter what the “farmers” want to do, it is a bad idea…
Please, just stop growing that shit, and move your “farm” to another county! Like one in Oklahoma!
Thanks so much!
Same water has been on this planet forever, just evaporates back to the sky’s back to the oceans back to the sky’s and back to the land, endlessly forever… So take your remarks and move yourself…..
The song of the grower- MeMeMe…
That is the most lackdaisical answer yet! We all are aware of the water cycle. It is also true that the amount falling from the sky is decreasing regularly. In the last forty years the amount of precipitation to replenish the aquifer continues to decrease. The result is less and less surface water available. We don’t need some business owner to finish off the water supply we depend on for our homes, by pumping it out to water his crop.
Point to data to demonstrate less rain is actually falling! If you look instead of pontificate, you’ll see, despite a couple dry years, the last couple decades have been some of the wettest on record.
The letter writer’s point is that wells should be regulated more like surface water. Surface water is so regulated (you can only pump in winter to storage)..now…that growers are told to use wells or ponds by the consultants. Ponds are gonna suck. They leave a big footprint, need lots of dirt moved around, can fail spectacularly, and get progressively full of screen plugging, pump frying algae.
Pumping surface water this time of year is the lowest impact way to take water, besides roof catchment/pioneer tanks. The web of water boards are in a bureaucratic bubble where they’ve never quite grasped how many Californians provided their own water, rather than buy it from a metered source.
False
I took a trip about 6 years ago to Death Valley and Yosemite. It rained every day, yet the rain people didn’t record any rain at all in those days…
When I look out my Mendo window I see grape vineyards as far as the eye can see but sure the little bit of cannabis tucked in between the grapes is destroying the environment and using all the water.
Yes, exactly. The issue is how much water can be drawn from the environment for ANY form of agriculture. The harsh, dramatic, critiques we see here are based on the bias that cannabis is the ONLY thing sucking water from streams and aquifers, ‘ cause, see, they like wine and food. The inability of government and citizenry to consider cannabis as an agricultural commodity like any other has been disastrous. ooooh, hooo, hoo, it’s POT so a whole new scheme of regulations has to be developed. Bullshit. If there is enough water for corn, beans, tomatoes or GRAPES, there is enough water for weed. Or not. Same issue regardless of crop. The Holier-than-thou crowd just doesn’t get it. Wow, really!?! Yeah, really. We have convential and organic regulations. Follow them for cannabis. We have a century or so of research and regulation on fertilizers and pesticides for every crop like tomatoes, corn, rice, you name it. Modify and apply to cannabis. Period. That’s it. Same safety regs as any other comestible.
the OMIGOD IT’S POT crowd has set us all up for failure with their self-fulfilling fantasies and it really burns my butt, but knock yourselves out. Not happy about toxic, abusive gardening either, but that’s another polemic.
Cannabis uses less water than some crops.
Those vineyards don’t have 10+ water tanks, because they have the correct water regulated setup. Why ship in water if you’re in the correct place and have the water?? Oh wait because most aren’t in the correct place for heavy AG or don’t want to pay for setup or legally can’t because of land use.. Build a pond, it only cost 100k+ Construction and, +30k in consulting. If you can’t afford it, don’t overgrow. Wanna be like the big boys, then pay like a big boy. Also, vineyards and other AG operations up here don’t put in hoop on hoop on hoop running generators all night. I could go on, but only the ones who can afford it and respect the land as a whole and not just weed and hoops will win. Go to the Central Valley for hoops and cheap land. It’s ruining property values for landowners.
Grapes are also a deep rooted perennial crop that don’t require much water per acre compared to shallow rooted annual cannabis crop. Much more acres in grapes do take a good amount of water, but a tiny amount compared to weed.
That might be true, except during the first 3 to 4 years of planting new root stocks, at that point they use more water than cannabis per acre until the new vines are established and producing clusters.
10+ tanks work with regulated water diversions, or rain catchment, and require less dirt moved than ponds. What’s the big deal?
So, by your research, what exactly happens to that freshwater upon arrival to the ocean? Does it magically recirculate back to its originally location of the river or stream? It’s like you people think the water just stays stationary in the streams and lakes….. you do realize that the over flow that is taken during the winter is the water that floods lower lying areas? Farms aren’t allowed to pull during summer months, and actually most if the season….. many people are only allowed to divert for 4 months out of the year…… Just try a little common sense, [edit] The real issue is that southern California and the vineyards aren’t held to the same standards……
“Just Sayin”; where are you coming up with your false equivalence. If anyone has been down to the Southern Humboldt Community Park outside of Garberville, they irrigate row corps (commercial farming), 10 acres of wine grapes and cattle grazing all year long, with no restrictions, being diverted directly from the South Fork Eel River, even when the South Fork Eel fell below 20 cfs as it did in 2020.
Here is their eWRIMS (Electronic Water Rights Information Management System) report. They diverted over 21,5 acre feet per year, with the majority of use/diversion during April ~ October:
https://rms.waterboards.ca.gov/StatementPrint_2018b.aspx?FORM_ID=419298
Not weed. You point out the type of water use afforded non-weed ag.
I too share your concern. I did not realize the County was forcing folks to utilize wells as their water source. There are a few permitted commercial farms around us and another one (1acre) is moving through the process. I believe these farms are dependent on wells. Our well has not fully recharged yet. A little scary.
I encourage rain catchment ponds and tanks and a forbearance of any groundwater withdrawals from July 1 – November 1.
Anyone in the permit process will tell you that ponds are an absolute nightmare to permit.
County frowns on ponds
Yup, they want to sell everyone water……
THE COUNTY DOESN’T SELL WATER! Alot of Mad River water is flushed down Humboldt Bay Municiple Water Dist. Customer’s toilets!
I’m not opposed to wells per se, but yes, every solution creates a new problem, right?
I hope that law and practicality force these agribusiness growers out of the coastal hills and inland mountains into the Central Valley Where they belong.
Those of us who are actual gardeners will remain in the land we love, growing actual gardens for food and pleasure, not money.
Where the groundwater extraction has caused subsidence of thousands of acres and surface water is toxic ?
“the right is a picture of the San Joaquin Valley southwest of Mendota in the agricultural area of California. Years and years of pumping groundwater for irrigation has caused the land to drop. The top sign shows where the land surface was back in 1925! Compare that to where Dr. Poland is standing (1977).” https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/land-subsidence?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects
great pic!
Wells are difficult and expensive up here also my experience has been that Wells eventually begin to produce less then you’re digging more holes etc, rain catchment ponds seem to be a good option but regs make that option problematic.
The neighbor with the deepest well wins!
Pretty sure the applicant has to record and monitor the meter on the well. This is reported annually to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. You can and should use rainwater catchment, 7.48 gallons in a cubic foot.
Our domestic well never ran dry until 2 years ago. We have a few big permitted farms above and below us, one of them claims to use over 600,000 gallons per year.
Water meters will be hacked, bypassed or destroyed. We aren’t talking about living in the city where your neighbors are going to see you screwing with a water meter.
Not only do the greedy growers suck the ground dry for their plants they also use it for their unpermitted rentals . Not a huge deal but for me it meant we had to use city water to water the (non weed )garden when our well dried up. Just another case of the greedy grower screwing people over much like paying 1500 a month for healthcare while the growers dont claim their income and get the medi cal for free.
Why do you believe growers, including licensed growers, do not pay taxes? Do you think they are exempt from property taxes as well? Most likely I would guess many pay more taxes than you do. How do you think they get loans for homes, property, vehicles? We personally and I assume you did as well, paid more in Federal taxes than Amazon, Starbucks and Chevron combined.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/16/these-91-fortune-500-companies-didnt-pay-federal-taxes-in-2018.html
In regards to Health Care, why do you believe growers don’t have insurance or don’t have to pay for it? We sadly have friends who work in the service industry who do not get health care benefits and cannot afford health care insurance and yes they qualify for medi-cal.
According to Covered California income guidelines and salary restrictions, if an individual makes less than $47,520 per year or if a family of four earns wages less than $97,200 per year, then they qualify for government assistance based on their income.
I daresay Amazon most likely paid vastly much more fuel taxes & payroll taxes than you did. (Property taxes too.)
It’s okay to make bigoted, uninformed and false accusations about what a bunch of environmental terrorists cannabis farmers are on this thread but if you call law enforcement pigs while commenting on an article about a corrupt cop physically and sexually assaulting civilians, you will be censored. Not hard to see how “balanced and fair,” the moderator is.
More than enough water can be collected from greenhouses and barns for cannabis farmers and many ecologically sound cannabis farmers practice rain catchment. The county should not allow farmers to use wells for cannabis as it obviously depletes ground water.
Logging, cattle ranching and vineyards should absolutely have to follow the same rules as they are far worse for our watersheds.
Considering I’m a cannabis farmer and not a law enforcement officer, that might give some folks pause on how prejudiced I am.
Look, you can call all cops scum if you absolutely must (you’d be wrong, but I won’t censor that). However, there are a few specifically targeted insults such as “pigs”, “retarded”,”white trash” etc that I don’t allow.
I’m trying very minimally to cut out the most hate filled insults. If someone calls an officer a pig, they generally are spraying hate.
Now do I try to get rid of all general insults that can be used for anybody? No, I don’t have the time or the energy to remind every commenter that insulting groups of people is factually incorrect and morally wrong in my opinion.
Nice try but I’m calling you on this one. Licensed marijuana producers and distributors pay full taxes like any other legal business, In fact, they have been gouged in the recent past when I was trying to get permitted. Fees, fees, fees and there was even a charge for new plants in the ground, regardless of final wholesale profit. Taxed before you got a paycheck. So you can sleep again and quit the wah, wah, marijuana, wah, wah, marijuana mean people, wah, wah, evil monsters, and consider your source of information as “unreliable.”
I was raised on a Central CA farm that had to keep adding feet down for our irrigation wells, as the water table had started to lower all over the valley, which now grows massive amounts of grapes on land that is really semi-desert, and should be dry-land farmed. I remember praying for rain when the alfalfa was growing, and then praying for it not to rain when the windrows were curing before being baled, often all night, to beat the rain and get it in the barn, or sold to the dairies. Then I moved here to Humboldt, and was dazzled by the amount of rainfall we’re blessed with (and have noted the recent years’ difference in when we get it, and how much, now). When all the permit business started, those water quality folks weren’t even considering wells to be an issue, in regards to forbearance in our many dry months. I happened to ask a neighbor who drilled a well across from my spring, and he hit water just about as far down as where my spring emerges on my side of the ridge. Here in Humboldt, the geology is quite foldy, probably from the uplift all along our relatively new coastal range, and drilling a well at the top of a ridge could be repetitive and expensive, trying to find more water when you already have a really good spring (like he does) – indigenous people camped here for the water and acorns. I’m no expert, but Susan’s worry is my own. Will my spring now go dry earlier than it already does? How many tanks will I need to buy to make sure I have water during the forbearance months, which are increasing in number?
If you don’t know the answer, hire an environmental professional, and don’t go it alone in the licensing process.
Who meters the water?
You do.
Who reports the water use?
You do.
Who gets the report?
State Water Board annually and enforced by Department of Fish & Wildlife.
What happens if you don’t report?
License is pulled by the state.
Where are the records reported?
Online so public can access the state info reported.
Where are records kept?
On site for 7 years and must be available for immediate inspection by any agency.
How do I know?
I’m an environmental and licensing professional.
Need assistance?
Give me a call. I’m local.
Qualifications?
BS Natural Resources, Masters Local Government, decade as planner, and 4 years consultant successful licensing over 20 acres.
Joshua Allen
Plan It Techs
@Joshua:
//
“Who meters the water? You do.
Who reports the water use?
You do.
Who gets the report?
State Water Board annually and enforced by Department of Fish & Wildlife.
How do I know? I’m an environmental and licensing professional.”
//
No.
How do I know? I’ve been an active, enrolled participant in the State Water Boards commercial cannabis program for more than 2 years now.
I am on a well, have regular contact and site visits with my local Water Board representatives and not once has the word “meter” even come up (other than when I asked if I need one and was directly told “no”). This is because there IS NO State requirement for metering water from such wells.
I will happy apologize if you post the regulation requiring such.
Kym can we all now advertise for free on RHBB???
If you are providing an answer to a question or questions you have expertise in particularly. Then, please, with my blessing, provide the answer you believe is correct, your name, the name of your business and either a phone number or an email address to contact you. And I’ll consider that you have done us all a favor.
And if you answer the question wrong, all the while trying to claim the letters behind your name mean you should be trusted, the advertisement sort of works against you.
It’s really very simple and I recommended it long ago, as soon as the Samoa pulp Mill closed, who paid for 4 times as much water as the rest of the customers combined, for Ruth Lake water.
Distribute Ruth Lake Water to the rest of Humboldt County, especially Southern Humboldt. At the time, it would have been a lot more cost effective, if you know what I mean.
Fuck Wells for growing weed.
That’s more likely potable water,
and if anything should be required for homes.
Pond water or ditch water is plenty good enough for weed.
Those Wells will just compromise the already tenuous balance of people’s springs.
This ain’t no flatland terrain.
That’s the only terrain where wells would be n appropriate option.
I am so tired of Humboldt County being subjected to the rest of California’s Cookie Cutter approach to regulations.
An overall rule for all of California on this issue is like making us all drive a fucking Prius.
It ain’t gonna work in the mountains.
A Prius won’t make it 100′ up my driveway.
This Bullshit ain’t gonna work either.
Permits for weed…
Wells for weed…
Taxes for weed…
Indoor for weed…
Tests for weed…
Trellis for weed…
Abatements for weed…
Track and Trace for weed…
ADA for weed…
What will they think of next?
Maybe they should start buying the shit.
In Humboldt County, storing runoff of any kind during peak flow is perfectly acceptable.
Legislating the use of ground water aquifers for growing weed here makes about as much sense as requiring mandatory rainwater collection in the Mojave Desert for growing weed.
It shouldn’t even be considered.
Drilling for weed…
What a joke.
Weed doesn’t need potable water to grow, people will pollute it with fertilizer
Wells are the worst, rain catchment ponds and tanks are the way to go. Defund Fish and Game and the Water Board. Elect a new board of supervisors.
All the other growers have to store their water, the people with wells should have to do the same.
And the county/state also needs to face the obvious that during the winter with lots of water flowing we can store that water in tanks and if appropriate small lined ponds for agricultural use during the dry season.
Being able to pump unlimited water, and having no-one keep timely use records is a recipe for over use and damage to the aquifers.
Growers with wells should be held to the same standards as ever other grower.
What about The Who are growing hay? Do they have to live up to any of this. Last I checked they dump tens of thousands gallons of water a day. No catchment, no storage, no non hydrologically connected wells. Very little in taxes compared to cannabis.
Fuckin’ Roger Daltrey!!!
I agree with you. Wells are a great way for pot farms to avoid regulation when using surface water and avoid the expense of water storage. The large pot farms really like this loophole. Most wells in this area are hydrologically connected no matter where they are drilled drawing down the aquifer. Wells are robbing Peter to pay Paul.
The county just permitted five acres right along the central fork of the EeL River in McCann ,Rolling Meadows Farm using well water with a small token of water storage. That’s a lot of water not flowing down the Eel river.
By allowing these huge farms to be permitted the county is trashing our environment and trashing our local Mom and Pop economy.
The only real solution is to require water storage during the dry months for growing weed and forbidding the use of surface water and wells.
The rich get richer. The regular folks are left with a shitshow -environmentally and economically. Same story the entire world over. We welcomed it to our county when we voted for “legalization”- a thinly-veiled “taxation and regulation” scheme used to control the multi-billion dollar domestic weed business that WE invented and deliver it to the corporate world, enriching yet further the already-wealthy. Sure…A few local sell-outs get to pat themselves on the back , go helicopter skiing and pretend to join the elite wealth hoarders. Thanks guys!!
While I understand the desire to prevent more damage to fragile watersheds, the water regulations associated with cannabis area a confusing mess that make little functional sense.
Someone above mentioned the failure of the ‘cookie cutter’ approach that has been implemented state wide and I agree. Hydrology varies too widely to lend itself to broad approaches.
The farm that is my home has 36 acre feet PER DAY (that’s near 12 million gallons daily) of 1910 deeded water rights from the nearly adjacent snowmelt river. Eight months out of the year this water flows onto the property in a canal that more resembles a river. This water can be used for any agriculture crop we desire (Alfalfa/Timothy hay currently), but not a drop can be used for cannabis – in spite of the fact that cannabis is no more thirsty as a crop.
The State would have no problem with us growing 4 square miles of hemp and using the deeded water for that purpose (that’s enough water to do exactly that), but cannabis? Nope. We literally use more water daily on this property for hay than is used to grow cannabis in the entirety of the state – but we can only use well water on the cannabis.
The ‘loophole’ someone referred to that allows cannabis farmers to use well water isn’t so much a loophole, but is rather rooted in the historic, CA Constitutionally established and long legally tested principles of underground water rights in CA. With rare exceptions, the state can NOT interfere with “reasonable and beneficial” use of percolating groundwater underlying an owners property. In short, the State is basically handcuffed by the California Constitution in any attempt to prevent well use for cannabis.
To be blunt, the water issue was a primary reason I am not longer cannabis associated with the Triangle. One can still find valleys nestled in the CA with great air quality, weather beautifully appropriate and with aquifers who’s hydrology can support cannabis cultivation in any imaginable scale with no negative water impacts. The environmentally responsible thing to do is to grow in those places if any scale is intended.
This is in no way intended as an offense to environmentally responsible mom/pop Triangle mountain growers struggling to make it in the new cannabis world – my heart is with you, but I saw the writing on the regulatory wall and made my own break.
Very informative JB. Thanks for sharing!
This is the point I was trying to make. The cannabis haters see only water drawn by cannabis growers and not the huge amounts used for other ag pursuits. It’s not fair; weed is placed in a sub-category; everybody’s piñata.
No offense taken here JB thanks for the information. I agree on you sentiments about protecting the water sheds.. but the functionality is definitely in question. I have scoured maps of Cali.. and thought about bailing. It’s difficult to find affordable farm land in Cali that’s not already utilized.. Besides also having access to music venues. And health food stores.. lol.
// “It’s difficult to find affordable farm land in Cali that’s not already utilized”//
Yes it is, but it’s possible. Closing on a new 123 acre agriculture parcel Monday in our tiny valley. Sitting on a vast aquifer that CASGEM rates at having been drawn down 0-1 foot in the last 50 years (it’s zero). We’re moving from our existing parcel, partially to get further away (vertically) from the aquifer.
Our currently licensed location is only 12ft to the water table and the Water Boards won’t (easily) license a treatment plant for discharge because of the low offset. Runoff from the plants (greenhouse or indoor) where we are are now is literally classified by them as ‘hazardous waste’ and has to be stored and hauled away via a licensed waste hauler. It’s 60+ ft to the table at our new location (3 miles away) and we’ll be able to get a discharge permit.
The new parcel has an existing Ag well which pumps almost 6 million gallons per day all summer long (and we need nothing of the sort for cannabis).
$1,500 per acre.
// “Besides also having access to music venues. And health food stores.. lol.”//
Tahoe doesn’t totally suck in that regard.
Most dope growers can’t afford AG land. Because their money is phones and they don’t have financial backers. We got AG land, bank made us put down 40%. Good luck finding a doper who can do that and be an asshat.
Tahoe is pretty sweet. Sounds nice JB. Congrats! I like Tahoe.. but me personally.. can only take soo much of it, till I am ready to head back to the Triangle’s green pastures..
Personally I wouldn’t use anything on my girls that would be classified as “hazardous waste”. But it seems to me the state of Cali has gone nuts in terms on what it deems as “hazardous” when it pertains to Cannabis. You think that any Organic Nutrients would break down before they leached into the water table.. They probably don’t give two shakes at all the AG that constantly leaches into the water table.. like what they would use on Vinyards, rice or even Turff farms. But I did read about the state coming down heavily on some sort of mushroom farm fairly recently.. (Don’t have the link atm).
In regards to wells, I think you illustrate that it’s not a one size fits all equation. I would not like to see smaller cultivators loose access to their wells.. however I really also think larger cultivation in certain areas on wells is probably not that great either.. If giant Ag wants to set up, why do they want to operate in the triangle? Aren’t there a number of places more applicable big outfits could go that are more suitable and make much more financial sense? As for the triangle, I actually do hope there Would be some sort of size cap in regards to using wells.. especially in more forested areas..
// ” till I am ready to head back to the Triangle’s green pastures.”//
There’s no question as to the beauty of the Triangle and everyone has their places they enjoy. I was super excited when areas near the Sierra began to allow licensed cultivation as those mountains have been one of my favorite places on earth for most of my life.
// “Personally I wouldn’t use anything on my that would be classified as “hazardous waste”.//
In the case of greenhouse/indoor, it matters not to the Water Boards if it’s organic or not — the runoff is considered such and must have some level of treatment before discharge.
Now, as someone who has cared about the environment my entire life, I actually understand why they do this for a facility like that — if I were to take my totally organic fed runoff and for years just dump it out next to the building, in time the area of discharge is going to get totally out of whack. If I’m percolating it underground, eventually it’s going to impact the aquifer. “Artificial” farming has unique environmental impacts no matter the crop, and these impacts should be mitigated.
// “Aren’t there a number of places more applicable big outfits could go that are more suitable and make much more financial sense?”//
Yep — and that’s what you’re seeing on a statewide basis. Mega-grows are not happening in the Triangle. It may seem to Mom and Pop that it is, but it’s not. Even the ‘large’ Triangle grows are tiny in comparison to other, more agriculture favorable areas of the state. IMO, only a few very special growers will survive (as licensed). The ‘craft’ market just isn’t going to be big enough to support all who want to be there.
If you’re gonna compete in the larger, new cannabis world, you’re going to have to be in the valleys (for both water and area reasons). The Triangle simply isn’t in the game in this geographic regard.
Like you, I think there should be breaks given to smaller cultivators, but then that just fits my overall life philosophy where corporate taxes, etc. should be progressively increased for businesses of any type based on size. We have forgotten in this country that building the middle class and providing mobility for the financially lower classes is what builds not only a great economy, but a great society.
Best wishes in your endeavors.
People need to live within a stored water budget. Winter runoff collection is the only win win solution, or move pot growing to the midwest where it rains during the summer.
When you pump underground water supplies, gravel settles and the land loses the capacity to store water. Goes for wine grapes too.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to require x amount of water storage per unit of product permitted, and require water drafting permits with a seasonal cutoff date? Groundwater is the main component of late-season streamflow, and with the limited amount of groundwater available in many areas groundwater withdrawals could impact streams as badly as surface diversions during the dry season.
good job sue! clear and easy to understand. thanks.
B of S and planning dept regulations are requiring convoluted actions that will have negative affect on this area permanently. wonder who they are listening to. sounds like lawyers instead of farmers or people who actually live here.
RESTRICT the SIZE of GROWS. license only as many farms as the resources can safely sustain. catch winter overflow water. leave most in the creeks. put some in tanks. its not rocket science.
weather is changing right in our faces. make some effort to plan accordingly,
or just rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic into a nice concensus circle.
It’s amazing that one trip to Dr. goggle and your a bonified hydrogeologist specializing in one of the most complicated geologic units in the world. This just proves how intellectually lazy Americans are.
The Eel river is dying a death by a thousand straws. Probably should keep the dams on the upper part of the river to supply flow for the few fish that are left. Stop the diversion to Lake Mendocino and the Russian River, and place priority on improving the river for the fish. The seasonal growing is one thing, the 365 lights green houses create even more demand. When it comes to well water in an area where there are multiple wells as the water table drops, the deepest straw wins. A while back the sacredness of a ridge was a factor in stopping a wind development. Is the river sacred also?
Well.. Well..Well (pun intended) I agree and I don’t. The problem is.. as I see it, the one size fits all approach and extreme overreach these regulations have taken.
Some people have referred to land owners as “Stealing” water. I find this offensive. We are not “stealing” water.. Cali has stolen our water rights!!!
How could I not think that there is some sort of Agenda 22/ 2030 conspiracy going on here with actions such as these??
On one hand, people can’t even use a small amount of water (measured in gallons) on 6 plants.. but a giant dirty mega grow is permitted to suck excessive amounts measured in acre feet from a well, Without any storage..That’s madness. At that point.. on a certain level I would say the water board has denied land owners rights to a reasonable use of water.. and is using discriminatory practices to usher the market to favor larger water sucking operations whist bullying smaller local cultivators who have responsibly used their water for years and years..
A reasonable use of water from your property should be granted, Whether it’s for Petunias or pot.
That said.. personally I don’t see reasonable consumption on a scene over 10,000 sf without water storage of any sort… when it’s in the hills and on a well. Definitely water storage should be required… absolutely. They should be held to greater accountability.. in terms of run off and water consumption..
Besides the fact that the water board over estimates and arbitrarily exaggerates the amount of water that’s needed especially on small cultivators.
Not to mention starts the storage year too early. July 1 to Nov 1st should be the window.
The entities who reside and make their living here have a responsibility to protect the commons.. the air, view shed, water sheds and rivers. How can we balance independent living, capital per-suits, job creation, thriving livelihoods with also protecting the commons and keeping the triangle a safe, environmentally clean, place to live, without a massive overly hyperactive police state? While also, as Biden has said..protect the Democratic values we hold dear..
*Typo Agenda 21/2030*
Seems OK to me. Local, domestic use should be OK with a generous homestead allotment and all the draconian regs kick in when plant numbers get high. The demonization strategy sucks.
Thank you LCO! Demonizing does suck! Somehow us smaller original market ops have gone from the heroes of the weed world to suddenly be the Villains..
Somehow it’s fine to grow metric tons. But grow a smaller amount and face the proverbial gallows!
Why won’t county or State allow growers to pump all the water they can, when the river is up, muddy, and flowing bank to bank. The only effect of this would be less flooding. And everyone could have all the water they need.
You kinda can. The issue is storage and using it in the dry period. Besides most hill properties don’t connect to the River easy.
Yeah, but in the winter, water is running for days, weeks or months in many ditches well-above the river. That’s when you drop your intake scooper in the ditch and fill your downhill tanks for summer use. 2-inch pvc pipe about 8 or so inches long and a sink-drain mesh is the basis for your intake. Figure it out.
For sure the winter rains are the best time to stock up.. It’s the insane amount of storage they require for even a small operation. The last time I checked the requirements were in the 100’s of thousands of gallons.. while I would estimate my usage to be In the 10’s. It’s fine if you have a large permitted pond.. but to store 100’s of thousands in tanks.. kinda a challenge. In that sense Wells are more reasonable.
I am a legal cannabis farmer with two permitted wells . We were told that we may not use them for six months out of the year. We actually don’t use them for farming at all, instead using rain catchment tanks. I am therefore somewhat confused as to who is allowed rights to use their well or not !
I obviously don’t know the specifics of your case, but if a well has been deemed “hydraulically connected” to a stream (underground or otherwise) rather than a “percolating” well (broad water table association), then surface water rules would apply. In the case of cannabis, only percolating wells can be used during the forbearance period.
Also, the above is related to State rules. I can’t speak to any specific county rules other than my own (which is not in the Triangle).
HL,
Are you in the i hills, and what is your approximately altitude and slope?
Is your forbearance based on a possible hydrological (hydraulic?) connection, or maybe lack of proof of no connection?
I could see how a water table or an underground aquifer unrelated to nearby springs would be difficult to prove on a sloped property at a certain elevation.
I believe the burden of proof would be on the landowner, is that correct?
That could easily prove costly and burdensome especially for a smaller permit.
It seems to be how small permits are technically allowed yet actually made impossibly unrealistic due to regulatory requirements.
As in, sure you can, but really you can’t.
And nobody should be allowed to drill a well that taps into an existing spring.
That has that potential to ruin things for everyone by drilling through strata, into a porous layer of great depth,
and draining a springs source to God knows where, to the detriment of everyone.
Not to mention the little known fact that if well drilling equipment is not properly sterilzed after drilling into an aquifer with bacteria that causes a sulphur smell, then that bacteria can be introduced into an otherwise unaffected aquifer and pollute it, ruining it forever, along with all the other wells associated with it.
A big risk, and good luck trying to rectify it.
Not to mention the risk involved with drilling dry holes.
Even if you do hit water then the burden is on you to prove it is an acceptable source.
She has a very valid point.
It used to be that you never bought or grew a property that did not have water on it, it’s why so many useless parcels were vacant until the unprecedented land grab about five years ago where people were buying any sliver of land to grow on. If you bought land without water to use that’s your problem, there’s nothing ok about hauling water into the mountains to grow because you couldn’t afford or find the proper place to grow. Just like no matter how much earth you move, you will never turn mountain land into farm,and. Head to the valley if you don’t like it, these “farms” in the middle of the woods Is a problem for many reasons including the fire hazard. And something to remember when crying about how much growers pay in taxes, msny of us have been been paying that much And more for years, so cry your river to the tax man but don’t make yourself into some martyr for thinking you support shit with your few years of taxes. Life is unfair, and you should not get special treatment
I’m begging for no special treatment! PLEASE treat me the same as my neighbors PLEASE.
This article us a tiny tip of a massive iceberg.
G absolutely correct. 25 years ago land without water NEVER SOLD ALONE. It was either merged with other parcels that had water or sat undeveloped. If you had your place where it went dry you did not garden or farm much, asked friends for washing rights during summer, hit the laundromat. Lived with what land and limits it had.
Maybe about 15ish years ago the water trucks started. At first it was a novelty and water could be grabbed for $25 a load bulk. Folks would buy extra water to run the house because the grow used up what water the land could provide.
Others asked hey can we get water too? Once that opened up folks were like hey I can get that parcel next to me put a couple tanks up there and we can make something happen. Land was grabbed up for pennies on the dollar because the people that owned it were happy to sell what was always thought as worthless, waterless land. Values quickly spiked. And so it began. People talk about the green rush it’s a water rush really. Savy dudes grabbed up water trucks. If they were REALLY on their game had a side gig on the water tender list for fire season too.
The lines at the bulk hydrants grew. A busy service could bomb 10+ loads a day or more. Rates varied by travel. Some loads were up to $500 each.
Do the math 2 to 5k a day.
Sure fuel costs etc.
Buy a truck 20k to get going.
Permit few k.
Insurance few k.
Run from May -October
100k plus easy.
Add that CAL FIRE cash your banging it hard!!!
Lot of these guys ran/run between scales and checks. Overloaded, no tags, bulk rates went up a little but it is a huge profitable unregulated issue.
A thirsty grower nar will ask where does this water come from, ya got your permits etc??? The chlorine waifs in the air as that valve is opened until the PTO pumps the precious last drops out. Yes permit holders are supposed to track supplemental water and sources. I ask is that truly done? Me knows not, not on any consistent means. About 12 ish years ago the meters in the bulk hydrants were toughened up but they get bypassed, cut, removed that’s a huge mess.
Then also consider all the wear and tear on the roads, the crashes from people getting ran off by the water trucks. The real people that make money in cannabis are the service providers water, soil, equipment, permitting. I see a trend here it really is like the gold rush. I have this meme is not exactly about water but it’s the gist of it all.
2.0 is set up to lure the small guy into thinking they have a shot at permitting.
But its vast storage, or well-only water source requirement, and the dopey (pun intended) “full-terms only” are hurdles set up to make you go broke. And the BOS literally thinks they know more about farming herb than the people that carved out the industry .
What is the obsession with taking away our tiny dep crops anyway ?
In my experience well drillers are shady. It’s common knowledge they routinely drop 2 dry wells for every 3 wet.
If you like making $15k gambles on a day of drilling to maybe only get a pile of dry tailings, proceed with caution. We did and lost.
Imo 2.0 should have no water regs at all, or extremely loosened parameters considering the non regulation of every other ag endeavor.
Water storage is a sure thing. Rain catchment is even better. $15k will give you a good start. A lot of people have wells drilled that come up dry or Peter out at the end of the season and then still have to buy water storage.
Hmmm.. For 2000sqft you’re looking at 100,000 gallon storage . Because under 2.0 they unfairly allow zero diversion the entire grow season .
That $15k will maaaaybe pay for the site prep and delivery fees on your bank of 20-30 , 3000 -5000 gal tanks ( pretty sure anything larger needs to be permitted …) So where is the other 50-100k coming from?
And speaking of gambling, if you don’t put in a well , your 2.0 grow is 100% reliant on adequate rainfall to fill those tanks not a sure thing actually. When the ability to divert during the wet season would guarantee you could top up your storage. It’s an ignorant approach and people should be pissed!
Who thinks living like a gd renter beholden to the water board and BOS, on your own property is taking our community in a healthy direction?
At 50 cents a gallon for the typical plastic tank you should be able to buy 30,000 gallons of storage with $15k. If you put rain gutters on your 2000 square foot greenhouse it would take 80 inches of rain to fill 100,000 gallons of storage and if you buy water tanks with rain catchment on the roof then you can reduce the amount of rainfall needed considerably. I have added gutters to a barn and workshop and reduced the amount of rainfall to fill the tanks to twenty inches. It’s very easy to do the work yourself and save on labor costs.
Water flows downstream off property and supports fish and wildlife so it isn’t yours to take all of it.
Water is now a Commodity that rich people make trades over. It will only get worse!