Water theft in California is a huge problem during a normal year, but now as California hits its second year in severe drought conditions. And now as limits are being set on farmers about how much water they can divert from the California Delta, California is seeing water theft cases double. Water theft is normally handled on a local level and county Sheriff Matt Kendell from Mendocina County said, “Any way that you can imagine that somebody is going to grab water, they’re doing it.”
People steal water with buckets; create illegal dams, and even take water from private residences and business wells. Antelope valley is seeing water theft as well, of their 176 water Hydrants, 100 have been reported removed by the county to stop the thieves, and this thievery left the community without water as the water system crippled last March. Water theft in California has been seen in the past; in 2014 a theft was reported of 20,000 gallons of water and from an elementary school. The thievery has gotten so bad that in Mendocino County and Sonoma County the Russian River has already shown depleted waterways.
And who is the culprit for Water thievery? One crop requiring a lot of water is illegal weed farms. Legal Weed farms can attain their water through legal and traditional water channels. While every crop requires lots of water, and with water shortages, drought, and this summer hitting triple digits for consecutive weeks in a row, farmers are resorting to acquiring water in various ways. Lieutenant John Nores, head of the Fish and Wildlife’s Marijuana Enforcement Team said, “We are absolutely seeing more aggressive water-stealing by marijuana cultivators,” and Water is getting much more limited with the drought.”
Now, Cannabis is not normally a crop that requires a lot of water, it does not require more than Tomatoes, in fact is requires 33 times less water than almonds, when grown legally. The problem is with illegal farms, up to which more than 4,000 illegal marijuana farms have been located in Nevada county alone with more throughout the state. These illegal farms can divert water and have stolen 1.2 billion gallons of water throughout California.
To combat water theft, counties are making it more difficult for thieves to access the water, such as removing fire hydrants, and working on creating laws to prosecute water theft. Another step to take would be giving farms the ability and ease to grow Cannabis legally in order to obtain water through the proper channels.
