Irrigation....
Scott,.... My comment about pot growers being farmers, too wasn't meant to offend you.
However, you might be missing something in all of this. IMO, the point being made is that diversion without permits/water rights is illegal by itself (let alone that growing pot for sale is still (arguably) illegal. In one article, the grows in question are located in Humboldt County near small to tiny surface water sources that are tributary to rivers up there. Water for irrigation of any sort (even drip systems) has to come from somewhere and, in this case, it's coming from small streams/creeks. In Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, many of those small streams are spawning tributaries for Salmon/Steelhead. When a number of grows occur on or near the same small source, as they have on Salmon Creek and/or other tribs, it tends to dry them up with predictable results. Rural pot growers have no legal water rights. Add to that, they're growing an (arguably) illegal crop and don't pay for their water as an urban grower might. As was pointed out in the articles, the run-off from these illegal grows is polluted with fertilizers and rodent poisons and the polluted water runs off to a small waterway. Finally, drying up any and/or all waterways magnifies/contributes to drought conditions.
I'm not OK with any of that (even if they use drip irrigation systems).
Last edited by Darian; 07-11-2014 at 02:43 PM.
"America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote."
Author unknown
Bookmarks