Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jan 2015
Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Press Democrat
Contact:  http://www.pressdemocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348
Author: Mary Callahan

STATE SEEKS WATER RULES FOR POT GROWERS

State officials have begun rolling out a new environmental initiative 
designed to win the cooperation of marijuana growers in protecting 
Northern California waterways and fisheries from the kinds of 
degradation that commonly result from pot cultivation.

A team of state and local agency representatives conducted a series 
of unannounced inspections last week of gardens in the Eel River 
watershed near Garberville, visiting 14 properties over three days 
along Sproul Creek. The creek went dry last summer for the first time 
in many years from what environmental officials believe was the 
combined effects of drought and unregulated water withdrawals for 
marijuana irrigation.

Part of a larger effort to address watershed damage, environmental 
contamination and illegal water diversions that have continued 
unregulated for decades in remote forests up and down the state, the 
undertaking includes a plan to develop water quality standards to 
which growers can be held accountable or face fines and other penalties.

The multi-agency endeavor targets those who cultivate pot on private 
lands, with landowner permission, and is aimed at creating a system 
of regulation designed to help growers farm in an environmentally 
friendly manner while authorizing enforcement action where necessary.

There are no plans to pull or destroy plants.

The program is aimed primarily at regulating the activities of those 
legally growing marijuana for medical use, though water quality 
regulators plan to focus on what's happening environmentally and not 
whether a grower has Proposition 215 medical marijuana documentation.

The goal is instead to encourage the growing community toward 
proactive steps that protect the environment, said Cris Carrigan, 
director of the Office of Enforcement for the state Water Resources 
Control Board.

Education and outreach are key pillars of the program, and Carrigan 
and others already have met with scores of stakeholders, including 
trade groups and growers. The enforcement piece is also weighted 
heavily toward what he called "assisted compliance" to help growers 
meet established standards, he said. Carrigan said that many 
officials believe it is likely state voters will legalize 
recreational use in 2016, and that part of the focus on regulation 
now is aimed at being ready for that.

Program architects are asking that growers contact regulating 
agencies in advance of starting a garden, getting permits for 
activities such as grading, chemical use and storage, water 
diversions and any operations in or around waterways.

It's a tall order, but should make sense to medical marijuana 
collectives and private growers who want to create sustainable 
business models that acknowledge the potential for wear and tear on 
the land, Carrigan said.

He said the North Coast region is leading the way and will be the 
first to develop a regulatory scheme for marijuana, and that lots of 
people are watching.

"It's a very complicated area of the law and of regulation - a new 
frontier in many ways," Carrigan said, "but in many ways we have many 
of the tools we need available. It's just gathering them all into the 
right tool box."

The challenges are myriad nonetheless, given the legally gray area in 
which medical marijuana growers operate because of conflicting state 
and federal laws, the participation of potentially violent criminals, 
gangs and drug cartels in cultivation, and the vast numbers of 
gardens - tens of thousands - estimated on the North Coast alone. The 
state's manpower is limited and the inspections labor-intensive. 
There is distrust and skepticism on both sides.

Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the Emerald Growers 
Association, a trade organization created in part to promote best 
practices in the marijuana industry, said his group "strongly 
supports" environmental regulation for marijuana growers. He said 
many already engage in sound environmental practices and water 
conservation that don't get the same press coverage as "environmental 
atrocities" that cast a bad light on everyone.

But he also acknowledged the reluctance of many growers to bring 
attention to themselves for a variety of reasons, including the 
divide between a state law under which medical marijuana use and 
cultivation are legal, and federal law, under which all cannabis 
remains illegal, and local enforcement that continues to ensnare 
medical marijuana farmers, he said.

"It's a very, very unique challenge to regulate this industry," Allen 
said. "I really can't think of a parallel anywhere in history. The 
timber industry came into regulation in 1972, but there wasn't the 
stigma and history of paramilitary prohibition that is in this industry."

Carrigan acknowledged "a lot of potential for it not to work."

But ignoring the industry's environmental impact is not an option, 
despite the complexities and the temptation to look the other way, he 
and other state regulators say.

"It is an exponentially increasing water quality and water supply 
problem," Carrigan told members of the North Coast Regional Water 
Quality Control Board on Thursday.

Within the medical marijuana community, there is a hunger for 
guidance and the opportunity to reduce environmental impacts, as well 
as a desire to weed out those who would exploit the land for profit 
without regard for the consequences, Carrigan and others said.

The state water board and Department of Fish and Wildlife lead the 
multiagency endeavor, a pilot program currently funded for one year 
under an approved budget proposal pushed forward by Gov. Jerry Brown. 
It includes $1.8 million to fund 11 positions with Fish and Wildlife 
and the water quality agencies for the North Coast and Central 
Valley, the two regions helping to develop the protocols.

The program is not intended to deal with growers illegally squatting 
or trespassing on private or public lands, which is prevalent, nor 
those associated with gangs, cartels, interstate trafficking and the like.

Carrigan said inspectors would be visiting high-risk, garden-dense 
watersheds in the months ahead, based on aerial, satellite and Google 
Earth imagery identifying areas where marijuana is grown.

Sproul Creek was selected for the first field test because of its 
environmental value, California Fish and Wildlife Warden DeWayne Little said.

The creek is home to five endangered salmonid species, including a 
key population of coho salmon that were prevented last year from 
migrating upstream to spawn because of the diminished water, officials said.

The inspection teams included personnel from the state water and 
regional water quality control boards, the Division of Water Rights 
and the Humboldt County sheriff's personnel. They carried 
administrative warrants permitting them to inspect the gardening 
operations but got consent from landowners without the need to use 
them, Carrigan said.

Inspectors found examples of common issues related to cultivation in 
steep canyons, Carrigan said, including improper grading that can 
lead to sediment discharge and potentially contaminated runoff 
reaching the creek. Some growers also had disrupted gravel beds 
necessary for spawning because of cisterns and other water-diversion 
systems installed into the creek bed and banks without necessary precautions.

There were also possible violations involving illegal water 
diversions and storage, and discharge of waste to the water possibly 
tainted by pesticides or fertilizers, officials said.

But the landowners and renters contacted were generally cooperative 
and interested in learning how to improve their operations, Carrigan 
said, and most of what the teams found, if properly corrected, could 
be brought within environmental standards.

The regulators and Fish and Wildlife personnel will be reviewing 
their observations in the coming weeks to determine what, if any, 
violations need to be addressed or citations issued.

"It's a brand-new thing," Carrigan conceded. "These people have been 
living under the radar for a long time. It's daylighting these issues."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom