The University of California, Berkeley (UCB) recently published a scientific brief in February regarding illegal water use for cannabis plants.

Entitled “Water Use: Cannabis in Context,” the brief was conducted by individuals at the Berkeley Cannabis Research Center, which is part of the College of Environmental Science Policy & Management. The Cannabis Research Center has been reviewing cannabis water use since 2017, and the most recent brief is split into four sections posed with a question.

First, “How much water does cannabis use relative to stream flow?” explains that cannabis water use in regions along the Northern California coast and semi-inland areas (primarily Humboldt and Mendocino County) represents a “small fraction” of surface water supplies year-round, and especially during the months of July, August, and September. However, cannabis grows aren’t spread out evenly amongst these areas, with many farms gathered near one another. In those areas, “cannabis water demand represents >10% of available supplies during the dry season.” Researchers also make an important note that the watershed samples they refer to include demand mainly from unlicensed farms.

The researcher’s second section addresses the comparison between water demand between unlicensed versus licensed farms. “Unlicensed cannabis accounts for significantly more cultivated area than licensed cannabis farming and therefore has a much larger water demand footprint,” researchers explained. “Furthermore, because unlicensed cannabis farms often have little to no water storage on-site, water is extracted from watersheds on demand, which tends to peak in August.”

Ultimately, unlicensed farms consume much more than licensed farms throughout the year. “Water demand for unlicensed cultivation therefore exceeds that of licensed cultivation to an even greater extent in the driest time of year when stream flow is lowest,” the authors stated, recommending that incentives be provided for licensed farmers to be able to obtain or retain their existing licenses while “increasing off-site stream storage” to use as irrigation during the summer months.

The third section explores how much residents in Humboldt and Mendocino Counties consume in comparison to the amount of water that licensed grows utilize. Researchers studied 91 watersheds and found that resident’s demand for water usage far exceeded that of licensed cultivators by 97%. “On average, licensed cannabis farm demands are one-tenth the amount of water as residential demand,” the brief states. “Water demands for other forms of agriculture in the region far exceed those of cannabis and residential use.”

Finally, the last section examined water used licensed cannabis grows and found that those cultivation sites only used 4% or less of streamflow in the month of August, some even without additional water storage. “If licensed cannabis farms had enough water storage capacity to accommodate at least half of their annual water demand, there would be no watersheds among those sampled exceeding 2% of their estimated streamflow availability,” the authors concluded. “If licensed cannabis farms had storage capacity equivalent to their annual water demand, licensed cultivation would not require more than 1% of available flow in any sampled watershed.”

The release of this brief is well-timed to educate voters as spring approaches, which is also when they will have the opportunity to choose, approve or reject the Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative (HCRI) which will appear as Measure A on the upcoming ballot. If approved, it would severely hinder local growers by banning them from making any changes to their farms. A report analyzing the HCRI was prepared for Humboldt County Board of Supervisors by the Humboldt County Planning Department in March 2023, explaining the harms of such a measure. “HCRI has been written to effectively discourage existing permit holders from modifying their permits in any way,” the report stated. “This includes adding infrastructure intended for environmental protections or modification of activities or site configuration to adapt to the evolving industry. These restrictions affect the smallest of farms permitted in Humboldt County to the largest cultivation sites.” 

More recently, former Board of Supervisors member Mark Lovelace, who has spent the past seven years advising other California counties and cities on cannabis regulations, wrote an op-ed for Times Standard urging voters to vote no on Measure A. “Based on my professional analysis, I believe that Measure A will deal a devastating blow to the small cannabis businesses it purports to want to help,” Lovelace wrote. “The measure will impose an unrealistically small limit on the size of any new cannabis farms and will deny even the smallest ‘craft’ farmers any opportunity to grow or adapt their operations within Humboldt County. With cannabis prices continuing to fall, small farmers will be assured of making less money every year until they are no longer viable.”

Lovelace described the measure as “grossly uninformed and demonstrates a deep lack of understanding of the cannabis industry and basic economics.” Measure A cites any grow larger than 10,000 square feet (which he describes as slightly larger than the average suburban lot), is a “large grow.” Additionally, the average size of all licensed Californian cultivator lots are more than 27,000 square feet, 93 cultivators are larger than 100,000 square feet, and nine include more than one million square feet.

In addition to other important points of defense of local cannabis growers, Lovelace summarizes the effect that Measure A may have on small cultivators. “Measure A would put Humboldt County’s small cannabis farms at an extreme disadvantage against large growers elsewhere in the state, rendering them largely unviable in an increasingly competitive industry. I urge Humboldt County’s voters to vote NO on Measure A,” Lovelace concluded.

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Congressmen Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) and Doug Lamborn (R-CO) touted statistics from several studies, one of which were over ten years old, in an attempt to portray cannabis as an environmentally unfriendly plant, framing their argument around increasing competition for energy and the high amounts of electricity and water cannabis plants use compared to other agricultural crops.

“The demand for prioritizing electricity uses and for increased energy efficiency is a growing concern for the American public,” the letter said. “It is essential that the nation understand the burden marijuana cultivation puts on the electrical grid and the environment.”

The letter contained many troubling statistics, some of which appeared to be based on outdated growing technology. For instance, it is said in the letter that a four-plant module uses as much electricity as 29 refrigerators, which does not quite add up when you consider a household refrigerator uses anywhere from 100-250 watts of electricity (according to a cursory Google search) and most commercial growers use 1000 watt high-pressure sodium lights if they have not already switched to the newer LED models that use about 300 watts. Not to mention, some growers place upwards of 10 plants under a light, so that information is a bit arbitrary in the first place.

The letter also espoused that “annual cannabis cultivation electricity demand will grow 65% during the next decade.” However, this does not take into account that if marijuana were legalized on a federal level and interstate cannabis trade were opened, many cannabis companies would opt to move from an indoor grow model to an outdoor grow model.

The letter, addressed to the respective heads of the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, and the Energy Information Administration, can be found here. The congressmen asked for responses to the following questions by November 30:

• How does current marijuana legalization impact state energy consumption and emission levels?
• How would federal legalization of marijuana affect national energy consumption and emission levels?
• What is the anticipated growth of energy usage and emissions from the marijuana industry?
• How will growing energy demands from the marijuana industry affect the reliability of our electric grid?
• What impact do illegal marijuana growing operations have on the country’s water supply?
• What harms do illegal marijuana growers’ use of various fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides pose to wildlife, habitats, and humans in the United States?

A recent study published in early 2021 found that cannabis still uses a small amount of water relative to other agricultural crops, and that with proper planning and policy cannabis does not have to be a strain on the environment even when grown at mass scale. The study made the following policy recommendations to ensure cannabis legalization does not result in an added strain on the environment:

1. Land use: as cannabis has traditionally been grown in environmentally-sensitive areas, planning could minimize negative environmental impacts linked to cannabis expansion.
2. Water use: cannabis is often grown in areas where managing the timing and location of water extraction is crucial for the environment.
3. Pesticide use: human exposure pathways for pesticide residues on cannabis are unique, as they may be inhaled at high temperatures or ingested. It is thus essential that pesticide controls go beyond those of normal agriculture.
4. Energy use: incentivizing best practices could reduce energy footprints of indoor and mixed-light cannabis cultivation.
5. Air pollution: prioritizing science-based best practices could reduce air pollution and air quality impacts.

More details on these policy recommendations can be found at the full study here.

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Lawmakers in Oregon have passed legislation to address the state’s burgeoning illicit cannabis cultivation industry, allotting $25 million to help law enforcement and community organizations fight illegal cannabis growing operations.

Oregon voters legalized recreational marijuana and authorized regulated cannabis production and sales in 2014. Since then, illegal cultivation operations have popped up in droves, particularly in Klamath, Jackson, and Josephine Counties in the southern portion of the state. State Sen. Jeff Golden, who worked to get the bill added to the agenda for a one-day legislative special session last week, said that some rural areas of Oregon are “military-weapons zones, like the ones we usually associate with failed states.”

Golden said that many of the illegal cultivation operations are run by criminal cartels that are guilty of human trafficking, labor abuses, intimidation of local residents and theft of water during a persistent drought.

“Illegal cannabis operations in southern Oregon have been using our limited water supply, abusing local workers, threatening neighbors and negatively impacting businesses run by legal marijuana growers,” Golden added.

The measure, Senate Bill 893, was passed by Oregon state lawmakers on December 13 and signed into law by Gov. Kate Brown the following day. The new law establishes a $25 million “Illegal Marijuana Market Enforcement Grant Program” to assist local police, sheriff’s departments and other organizations address the illegal cannabis cultivation in their communities, including $5 million earmarked for the enforcement of water rights. Local law enforcement agencies that receive grants from the program will be required to work with community-based groups to address labor trafficking. 

Earlier this year, Golden and state Reps. Pam Marsh and Lily Morgan wrote to a letter to the governor calling for help to fight illegal cannabis cultivation in Oregon’s Rogue Valley.

“The damaging impacts, including human trafficking of a labor force in conditions approaching slavery, severe aggravation of the drought through massive and systematic water theft, long-term damage to agricultural lands from various polluting practices, and the financial ruin of licensed growers whose compliance obligations make competition impossible are hard to overstate,” they wrote.

Is It Hemp or Cannabis?

Much of the illicit cannabis cultivation is occurring on farms that are ostensibly growing hemp, which was legalized at the federal level with the 2018 Farm Bill and is subject to far less stringent regulations than cannabis. The Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission recently reported that nearly half of the registered hemp farms inspected by the state are actually growing cannabis. About 25 percent of the hemp operations refused entry to inspectors, according to state agencies.

Jackson County Sheriff Nathan Sickler told lawmakers the cartels “have a business model: Put up more cannabis illegal grows than law enforcement can ever get. They know we’re going to get some, but they know we can’t get it all.”

A southern Oregon farmer told the Associated Press that a creek he used to irrigate his crops has run dry due because illegal cannabis grows have stolen the water. He believes that the state does not have enough inspectors to ensure that farms are actually growing hemp and not cannabis. He also blames landowners who sell or lease property to shady operators.

“If somebody walks onto your property with a suitcase with $100,000 in $20 bills, you kind of know they’re not on the up and up,” the unidentified farmer said. “And if you take that money and allow them to do something on your land, you should probably anticipate that they’re there to break the law.”

Local Official Declare State of Emergency

In October, Jackson County officials declared a state of emergency over the illegal cannabis cultivation operations, calling on Brown, state Senate President Peter Courtney, and Oregon House of Representatives Speaker Tina Kotek for help.

“Jackson County strongly requests your assistance to address this emergency,” members of the county Board of Commissioners wrote in a letter to state leaders.

The commissioners called for funding, manpower and state National Guard troops to help deal with the problem of illegal marijuana cultivation in the county. Members of the board said that law enforcement, local code compliance officers, and state cannabis regulators have been overburdened by the illicit activity and warned of an “imminent threat to the public health and safety of our citizens from the illegal production of cannabis in our county.”

Passed by the legislature as an emergency measure, Senate Bill 893 goes into effect immediately. Morgan told reporters bills planned for the 2022 legislative session will further address the issue.

Residents and law enforcement officers welcomed the funding provided by the legislation, but predicted that $25 million will not be enough to control the problem of illicit cannabis production in Oregon.

“It will help,” said Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel. “But the issue is metastasizing statewide.”

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