How marijuana is making California drought worse

CS Monitor ^ | August 6, 2015 | By Pete Spotts

[Brad from Tennessee]

California's most valuable cash crop, marijuana, is taking a heavy toll on some of the state's most sensitive ecosystems, with the effects ranging from erosion, contamination, threats to wildlife, and heavy water use at a time of severe drought.

The situation is prompting ecologists and wildlife managers to urge greater focus on bringing marijuana plots under tighter environmental scrutiny.

It's a tall order, notes a research team calling for the added focus via an article in the August issue of the journal BioScience. Among the challenges: Money to beef up enforcement and to cover cleanup is scarce. And where some level of regulation exists, enforcement can be stymied by a disconnect between federal and state laws regarding the possession, sale, and use of marijuana.

The environmental concerns are not limited to California, notes the team, led by Jennifer Carah, an ecologist with The Nature Conservancy's office in San Francisco. Twenty-three states and at least three countries are testing the marijuana-liberalization waters to varying degrees.

Where environmental concerns have been raised, they often have centered on energy and water consumption, or carbon footprints for commercial-scale, indoor pot farms. The situation in northern California highlights the need to pay attention to the broader environmental effects of widespread cultivation as well, the team holds. . .

[Birdsbane]

No more private swimming pools until the drought is officially over...problem solved.