Point of No Return? The Forest Service, Marijuana & Water

Marijuana grows in two watersheds

As the golden state turns brown, there's a debate raging, pitting fishermen against ranchers, farmers against environmental groups and Sacramento bureaucrats against rural landowners throughout the state. With a state snowpack that's just a fraction of normal levels, the magnitude of our current drought is finally hitting home. Meanwhile, in Humboldt County, known for its towering redwoods, gushing rivers and lush pastures, a perfect storm is hitting shore. It's July 2 and about 18 officials are sitting in a meeting with North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman in the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office Conference Room. The officials — cops, biologists, politicians and U.S. Forest Service employees — are talking about the proliferation of marijuana grows throughout Humboldt County and beyond, and many are expressing frustration about how little they can do in the face of the epidemic. In many ways, the conversation mirrors one held about a year ago with most of the same stakeholders. Law enforcement officials bemoan the lack of resources they say leaves them battling a proverbial firestorm with a garden hose. Sheriff Mike Downey points out that in 2013, his office identified more than 4,000 large-scale outdoor marijuana grows in the county but only had the resources to eradicate 92 of them. Wildlife biologist Mourad Gabriel says he and partners are left to pull together grant monies to try to clean up the busted grows, explaining how they used seven grants last year to clean up just five sites. Meanwhile, Gabriel says, mortality rates in threatened Pacific fisher populations are increasing as the weasel-like animals are being poisoned by rodenticides left behind by growers. "These trends are not dissipating," he says. "They're accelerating." But, this year, there's a different tone and an old concern made freshly urgent. The group is meeting as the State Water Resources Control Board is sending notices to 17 water rights holders — including ranchers, cities and community services districts — along the Eel River, and seven more along the Van Duzen, notifying them their water rights are being suspended. Meanwhile, unpermitted water diversions to irrigate pot gardens are unchecked throughout the county...more

Legalize marijuana, privatize the water and let it flow to its highest and best use as determined by the free market.  The only thing "suspended" would be the bureaucrats.

Notice the Forest Service can't control the uses of water on federal land while at the same time they are following a directive to control water on "adjacent" land.