Pot growers have been put on notice by state regulators that they will have to follow the same rules as the rest of agriculture in protecting California’s drought-stricken water supply.
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board issued an order Friday that will require medicinal marijuana cultivators to obtain permits to divert or store water. It also pushes them to use drip irrigation and other conservation measures and avoid vegetation-clearing activities and other practices that add sediment and fertilizer to local waterways.
The board was the second to enact tighter regulations aimed at water use and land practices by the burgeoning marijuana industry that supplies the state’s medical marijuana clinics. Last month, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board issued an order with similar requirements.
