Dry conditions in California's cannabis-growing country have become even drier -- as dry as they can get, in fact, with "exceptional drought" declared for most of Humboldt and Trinity counties, according to the National Weather Service.
If the Central Valley is the nation's fruit basket, those rural, mountainous areas in the north are California's marijuana basket -- and, possibly, the cannabis growhouse for much of the western United States.
And it doesn't appear things will turnaround for marijuana growers anytime soon. This summer could be a rough one: a study released late last month by a state Fish and Wildlife scientist says that marijuana growing could drain streams in two of Humboldt's eight watersheds completely dry.
One reason why is that along with drier-than-ever conditions, there are twice as many marijuana plants in those watersheds than previously thought, with as many as 100,000 plants in a select area of southern Humboldt/northern Mendocino.
Fish and Wildlife scientist Scott Bauer's findings have been in the news with regularity for almost a year, with his warnings of cannabis's ability to suck the state dry appearing in national media outlets including Mother Jones.
Using Google Earth and estimates from the Humboldt Grower's Association, Bauer counted the number of marijuana plants visible in four watersheds in the now bone-dry north, and estimated that cannabis could indeed de-water streams in two watersheds, Salmon Creek (so well-known for weed-growing that there's a strain named after it) and the south fork of Redwood Creek.
These proclamations -- that cannabis could kill the state's salmon fisheries due to even lower streams for spawning season, thanks to water diverted for pot farming -- were based on the theory that each plant uses about six gallons of water a day over a 150-day period, and on plant numbers from last year.
After studying the maps again, and after being told his numbers were too low, Bauer reconsidered. There are twice as many plants in four watersheds he studied -- 100,000, to be exact, with one watershed having over 1,000 plans per square mile.
This demand can exceed streams' "low-flow" capacity -- that is, the water coming down a stream or creek in August and September, before the rains arrive -- by as much as 250 percent, Bauer told the Eureka Times-Standard.
So what to do? We talked to a few growers in north country recently. One, with legitimate riparian rights to his stream in Mendocino, said all was good so far and things looked mostly normal. Another, who does business with San Francisco dispensaries, said that the streams look "OK" but that their ponds -- which catch water in the winter and spring to be used in summer -- are looking very dry, indeed.
Outdoor cannabis is still typically cheaper than indoor -- a function mostly of the market, which now also prices California and Oregon Pinot Noir far higher than French and Spanish Grenache. That might not continue throughout this year, if Bauer's predictions are correct and an even-greater outdoor marijuana harvest drinks some streams dry.
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