Thread: California Passes Recreational Marijuana Bill Prop 64

Marijuana and the California Water Shortage

January 2, 2017
by Anthony Martinelli
By Vincent Ballantine, WikiLeaf.com

The current California water shortage is the state’s worst drought in 1,200 years.

Since 2012, dramatic decreases in both rainfall and snowfall have left the state’s reservoirs at a fraction of their normal capacity. And although utilities managers have artificially widened these reservoirs and drilled deeper into the water table to access backup sources of water, such measures aren’t exactly sustainable.

What Caused the California Water Shortage?


This water shortage has dramatic implications for California’s agricultural industry.

The Golden State (and Central Valley in particular) is not only a major agricultural supplier for the United States; it’s the fifth-largest food producer in the world.

The bulk of our almonds, lemons, artichokes, and tomatoes come from California. They have all have been hit with state-mandated water conservation measures, driving down crop yields and driving up costs. Another extremely popular local crop is cannabis, with thousands of acres grown in Humboldt County alone. Now, with the state’s residents having voted to legalize recreational use and sale, cannabis will become even more integral to California’s economy. So how will California’s water shortage affect its cannabis production?

The drought is due in large part to an area of high atmospheric pressure that was situated in the Pacific Northwest and nicknamed the “Ridiculously Resilient Ridge.” The ridge hung over the region for a good part of 2014 and diverted storm patterns away from the West Coast, pushing them up towards Canada and then towards the Eastern Seaboard. This caused Washington, Oregon, and California to miss the winter snowfall that ordinarily would have built up their mountain snowpacks and then melted into Southern California’s lowlands.

The East Coast was hit with an unusual number of winter storms, leaving the West Coast dangerously dry

Although some rainfall in October 2016 has relieved drought in northern parts of the state, much of California remains parched. On top of that, a weather phenomenon dubbed La Nina could cause a warm and dry winter, prolonging drought conditions.

California’s Conservation Plan

California has resorted to drastic measures to make sure its scant water keeps flowing. Beginning in 2015, Governor Jerry Brown instituted mandatory conservation policies to cut water consumption by 25%, restricting communities from irrigating non-essential grass on football fields, front lawns, and roadway medians; Brown later extended the restrictions to household appliances, mandating low-flow shower heads and hose nozzles. The state’s agriculture industry has also been hit with restrictions. In June 2015, the California Water Resources Control Board required farmers to cut water usage by 25% — resulting in hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland lying fallow and a 17% decrease in agricultural sales.

The state has had significantly more trouble enforcing these water austerity measures for cannabis farmers.

California currently allows permits for farmers who can document that their product is sold to medical consumers

These legal farmers must follow the Control Board’s best practices, which include rainwater collection systems and drip (rather than flood) irrigation.

But black market cannabis crops still exist, and they can consume a lot of water — depending on its size, a cannabis plant can consume anywhere between one to ten gallons of water per day. Illicit growers have no reason to abide by the stated usage limits, and can turn to illegal measures like drilling or diverting streams to access as much water as they need. Some conservation officials have said that by using water irresponsibly, illegal cannabis farmers are responsible for threatening California’s endangered salmon.

California’s legalization of recreational weed this month might be a double-edged sword for its water problem. In theory, legalization will force illegal farmers to go legit in order to keep up with the newly legal competition, compelling them to cooperate with state regulatory boards. This would mean less illegally-diverted water.

Population Influx

On the other hand; California will likely be hit with a population influx comparable to Colorado’s “green rush”. With cannabis entrepreneurs seeking out state permits and arable land in droves. The state’s water reserves are struggling to handle their existing agricultural burden; with $400



billion in debt, it may be tough for Brown’s administration to ignore millions in monthly cannabis revenue; especially considering that neighboring Nevada, which also legalized recreational cannabis on November 8th, stands to profit from any potential business that California can’t accommodate.

Traditional farmers have had some success adapting to California’s drought by dry-farming their crops. The method involves storing occasional rainfall and encouraging deep root development to tap into groundwater sources; tomatoes, apples, and entire vineyards of grapes can flourish with dry farming; yielding products that are less-waterlogged and have a more organic, flavorful taste. And although cannabis could conceivably be dry-grown, processed bud that appears dark and desiccated doesn’t usually sell as well in a market that’s become accustomed to picture-perfect, hydroponically grown weed.

The Future of California’s Water

Besides a shortage of reliable water for irrigation; growers in California also need to be wary of the increased risk of wildfires. The state’s severely dry vegetation has made for easy kindling in a summer of record temperatures; allowing blazes to burn unchecked through large regions; as of September 2016, there were at least six major fires burning throughout California, altogether damaging about 184,000 acres of land. Cultivator Mike Ray lost an entire crop due to the Butte fire of 2015; his devastation is a harrowing warning for potential farmers whose expensive operations, whether indoors or outdoors, are at risk of going up in the wrong kind of smoke.

California’s massive wine industry has also been hit by the effects of the drought. Areas like Paso Robles on the central coast have seen steep declines in production.

Even vineyards that have relied on dry farming or on reserves on water for drip irrigation are seeing a difference

Although less consistent water supply means a more flavorful grape, the actual quantity of grapes produced is smaller.

Although they may be able to charge more for superior wines; vineyards are facing smaller and smaller profit margins due to their deceased output.

Winter is California’s traditional “wet season” and the winter of 2016-2017 promises to be a crucial one. If the usual patterns of rainfall and snowmelt don’t return to the West Coast this year; California’s cannabis industry won’t be the only institution whose future hangs in the balance.

http://thejointblog.com/marijuana-ca...ater-shortage/

California’s Wet December Drawing To A Close With More Rain

December 31, 2016 7:46 AM

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) — California’s wet December is drawing to a close with even more rain and snow in a welcome respite amid years of drought.

A warm low-pressure storm system brought showers to Southern California starting early Friday and slowly moved east through the day as a cold weather system dropped down toward the state from the north.

Rainfall amounts were modest Friday, mostly a few tenths of an inch, but nonetheless adding to precipitation accumulations well above normal to date despite continuing drought.

Downtown Los Angeles has had around 5½ inches of rain since the start of the water year on Oct. 1, more than five times the amount that had fallen to date last year.

Nearly 17.5 percent of California — a chunk of the far north and the coastal strip south to Monterey Bay — is now free of drought indicators but a large swath of the state is still in the grip of the worst levels of dryness, according to this week’s U.S. Drought Monitor update, which noted widespread precipitation in the western U.S. since Dec. 22.

“Some of the most impressive precipitation fell across southern California and the Desert Southwest, where recent improvements have to be viewed through the lens of a multi-year drought that features lingering low reservoir levels; tree mortality; groundwater shortages; and other long-term indicators,” Brad Rippey of the U.S. Department of Agriculture wrote in the Dec. 27 national drought summary.

Friday’s second storm system was expected to arrive during the night after dropping southward from the Gulf of Alaska along the Pacific Northwest, the National Weather Service said.

The new storm was expected to be very cold, promising to lower snow levels to elevations that could make travel difficult into and through mountain ranges as it moves south through California on Saturday.

In Duarte, residents were bracing for another round of wet weather.

“We’re just gonna hang around here, have a mud party, have some friends over and stuff like that, be creative with the drinks we serve up … a little brown tin in there for the festivities,” Richard Walker, a homeowner, joked.

Forecasters said the atmosphere would dry out for New Year’s Eve celebrations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Weather was also expected to be dry but cloudy for the 128th Rose Parade in Pasadena, which will be held on Jan. 2 due to a never-on-Sunday rule.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/...ith-more-rain/

And more to come.
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California braces for waves of heavy rain, snow into the weekend


AccuWeather.com-4 hours ago
“Snow levels may get as low as 2,000 feet for a time in central and northern California prior to the precipitation's arrival,” Elliot added.

Low snow in Sierra as chain controls slow traffic returning from New Years weekend

Sacramento Bee-6 hours ago

Wed Dec 28, 2016 | 1:56pm EST

After states legalized medical marijuana, traffic deaths fell

SOURCE: bit.ly/2igtabO American Journal of Public Health, online December 20, 2016.

Marijuana plants for sale are displayed at the medical marijuana farmers market at the California Heritage Market in Los Angeles, California July 11, 2014. REUTERS/David McNew


By Ronnie Cohen

(Reuters Health) - Legalization of medical marijuana is not linked with increased traffic fatalities, a new study finds. In some states, in fact, the number of people killed in traffic accidents dropped after medical marijuana laws were enacted.

“Instead of seeing an increase in fatalities, we saw a reduction, which was totally unexpected,” said Julian Santaella-Tenorio, the study’s lead author and a doctoral student at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

Since 1996, 28 states have legalized marijuana for medical use.

Deaths dropped 11 percent on average in states that legalized medical marijuana, researchers discovered after analyzing 1.2 million traffic fatalities nationwide from 1985 through 2014.

The decrease in traffic fatalities was particularly striking – 12 percent – in 25- to 44-year-olds, an age group with a large percentage of registered medical marijuana users, the authors report in the American Journal of Public Health.

Though Santaella-Tenorio was surprised by the drop in traffic deaths, the results mirror the findings of another study of data from 19 states published in 2013 in The Journal of Law and Economics. It showed an 8 to 11 percent decrease in traffic fatalities during the first full year after legalization of medical marijuana.

“Public safety doesn’t decrease with increased access to marijuana, rather it improves,” Benjamin Hansen, one of the authors of the previous study, said in an email. Hansen, an economics professor at the University of Oregon in Eugene, was not involved in the current study.

He cautioned that both marijuana and alcohol are drugs that can impair driving.

It’s not clear why traffic deaths might drop when medical marijuana becomes legal, and the study can only show an association; it can’t prove cause and effect.

The authors of both studies suggest that marijuana users might be more aware of their impairment as a result of the drug than drinkers. It’s also possible, they say, that patients with access to medical marijuana have substituted weed at home for booze in bars and have stayed off the roads.

Or, they suggest, the drop in traffic fatalities could stem from other factors, such as an increased police presence following enactment of medical marijuana laws.

Law-enforcement authorities have yet to devise a way to test drivers for marijuana intoxication, and have raised concerns about drivers high on cannabis.

Though traffic deaths dropped following legalization of medical marijuana laws in seven states, fatality rates rose in Rhode Island and Connecticut, the study found.

California immediately cut traffic deaths by 16 percent following medical marijuana legalization and then saw a gradual increase, the study found.

Researchers saw a similar trend in New Mexico, with an immediate reduction of more than 17 percent followed by an increase.

The findings highlight differences in various states’ medical marijuana laws and indicate the need for research on the particularities of how localities have implemented them, Santaella-Tenorio said.

Voters in Denver, Colorado approved a November ballot measure to allow public consumption of marijuana, Hansen noted. But, he said, “We don’t know the public health consequences of those types of policy changes yet.”

SOURCE: bit.ly/2igtabO American Journal of Public Health, online December 20, 2016.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-he...-idUSKBN14H1LQ