Thieves in California are stealing scarce water amid extreme drought

[DrQ]

Thieves in California are stealing scarce water amid extreme drought, 'devastating' some communities | CNN

As an extreme drought grips California, making water increasingly scarce, thieves are making off with billions of gallons of the precious resource, tapping into fire hydrants, rivers, and even small family homes and farms.

www.cnn.com

 

[Passepartout]

Thieves in California are stealing scarce water amid extreme drought, 'devastating' some communities | CNN

As an extreme drought grips California, making water increasingly scarce, thieves are making off with billions of gallons of the precious resource, tapping into fire hydrants, rivers, and even small family homes and farms.

www.cnn.com

A more diabolical- and MUCH more brazen form of thievery is agriculture simply drilling deeper wells and stealing water from the aquifers under the surface. That is EVERYONE's water and if it is pumped and used to irrigate crops against owners of earlier legal water rights, those water tables go down and the earth actually sinks.

Jim

 

[Superchief]

I guess if they are now allowed to shoplift, stealing water shouldn't be a problem.

 

[emeryjre]

They are stealing the water to grow Marijuana in the desert. In typical California fashion, the law has huge loopholes that are being exploited to grow pot in massive amounts that are untaxed.

Drug cartels stealing millions of gallons of water for illegal marijuana grows in Antelope Valley, officials say

Amid California's ongoing drought, drug cartels have been stealing millions of gallons of water a day to feed illegal marijuana grows in the Antelope Valley, officials said.

abc7.com

 

[Ty1on]

I've always been confused by the success of large scale illegal marijuana grows in desert fields, both in US and Mexico. You can't hide it. You can see the patches of green from cruising altitude.

 

[MrockStar]

Thieving of any kind is wrong and should be prosecuted to the maximum extent permitted.

 

[Passepartout]

Marijuana is a MONSTER cash crop in California!

California's Six Largest Cash Crops: Marijuana is a Monster - Oregon Cannabis Connection (occnewspaper.com)

Value of the six biggest crops in $Billions!

Marijuana — $23.3
Milk — $6.28
Almonds — $5.33
Grapes — $4.95
Cattle, calves — $3.39
Lettuce — $2.25

No wonder the growers get water wherever they can.

 

[easyrider]

I've always been confused by the success of large scale illegal marijuana grows in desert fields, both in US and Mexico. You can't hide it. You can see the patches of green from cruising altitude.

It is hidden is why they can't find it. If it were a big green patch it would be game over for the growers.

Bill

 

[emeryjre]

The LA Times had an depth, lengthy article on the problem. Biggest problem was finding the law enforcement resources and motivation to enforce minor legal law breaking. The California Marijuana legalization laws disminished the punishment for growing pot. While there are plenty of other laws being broken, none of the fines or jail time are a large enough deterrent to prevent the crimes.

 

[dioxide45]

Water is still flowing from the tap, isn't it? We are currently in CA and I haven't seen brown water from the tap or the tap run dry. Has anyone else living in CA? I suspect it has more to do with the thieves not wanting to run up their water meters that would raise suspicion than an actual ability of them not being able to get water from traditional sources nearby.

 

[MrockStar]

Makes sense, why bring unwanted attention to an illegal crop.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Marijuana is a MONSTER cash crop in California!

California's Six Largest Cash Crops: Marijuana is a Monster - Oregon Cannabis Connection (occnewspaper.com)

Value of the six biggest crops in $Billions!

Marijuana — $23.3
Milk — $6.28
Almonds — $5.33
Grapes — $4.95
Cattle, calves — $3.39
Lettuce — $2.25

No wonder the growers get water wherever they can.

During my time in California late 79s to early 80s, working for the state health department water supply program I did a stint working the North Coast. It was interesting getting into Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte Counties, because by official state economic statistics those were supposed to among the most economically depressed counties in the state. Yet there never seemed to be a shortage recent model SUVs, the hardware stores were well stocked and doing a brisk business, the local shops seemed to have lots of customers, and there was noticeably less blight than there was in supposedly more prosperous counties in the Central Valley.

As I recall, about that time the Humboldt County Ag commissioner suggested that perhaps the state consider including grows in it's estimates of agricultural activity.

 

[emeryjre]

For you people thinking that the Marijuana growers are stealing the water to avoid having it run through their meter, you do not understand how the growers are set up in the desert. I will try to get the link to the LA Times article so you can read it if you really want to understand the problem.

 

[dioxide45]

For you people thinking that the Marijuana growers are stealing the water to avoid having it run through their meter, you do not understand how the growers are set up in the desert. I will try to get the link to the LA Times article so you can read it if you really want to understand the problem.

So it sounds like the problem is that they set up in the desert where water is naturally scarce? THough I am in the desert at the moment, the faucet still puts out water.

 

[PigsDad]

The whole concept of growing crops in a desert escapes me. States like CA and AZ have brought this water shortage on themselves -- there would be plenty of water if it wasn't for the huge irrigated agriculture industry in those states. At some point (and we are approaching that point) they will have to severely cut back on that practice.

Kurt

 

[Superchief]

There has been a dramatic increase in organic farming in hot dry areas. It is difficult to control disease and insects without chemicals in traditional areas where there is a lot of moisture. Most people don't realize that organic crops usually have significantly lower yields and require more acreage and inputs than traditional crops.

 

[DrQ]

Thieves Are Stealing California’s Scarce Water. Where’s It Going?

As drought grips most of California, water thefts have increased to record levels. Thieves tap into hydrants, pump water from rivers and break into remote water stations and tanks.

www.governing.com

 

[easyrider]

Thieves Are Stealing California’s Scarce Water. Where’s It Going?

As drought grips most of California, water thefts have increased to record levels. Thieves tap into hydrants, pump water from rivers and break into remote water stations and tanks.

www.governing.com

Interesting article. I didn't realize how easy these are to spot now days. Not that long ago the growers were using buried ocean containers to grow high quality weed in the desert. Now that pot is legal it looks like they just grow where ever they want.

Bill

 

[isisdave]

The whole concept of growing crops in a desert escapes me. States like CA and AZ have brought this water shortage on themselves -- there would be plenty of water if it wasn't for the huge irrigated agriculture industry in those states. At some point (and we are approaching that point) they will have to severely cut back on that practice.

Kurt

And then the food that is currently grown with that water will come from .... ?

 

[PigsDad]

And then the food that is currently grown with that water will come from .... ?

There are many places that can grow those crops; not necessary to grow them in a desert. And perhaps we don't need as much of some crops that they grow -- almonds, for example. They are currently relatively cheap to purchase, but they are one of the worst water users in CA. If the water was no longer subsidized for those growers, the price would skyrocket and demand would dwindle.

Kurt

 

[DrQ]

So it sounds like the problem is that they set up in the desert where water is naturally scarce? THough I am in the desert at the moment, the faucet still puts out water.

Small Towns Grow Desperate for Water in California

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[emeryjre]

The desert provides lots of open land, sunlight, small population, and very limited law enforcement presence.

Downside is very limited water availability except for canals, wells, and municipal infrastructure.

When it rains, the sources are refilled. When it doesn’t rain, the sources dry up. They have not dried up yet, but if it doesn’t rain this winter, they will dry up. Therefore the push is on to conserve water until it rains again.

The pot growers don’t care if the water runs out this year. They will have cashed out and live the good life. The local folks will be taking navy showers, boiling water, and generally suffer with a limited water lifestyle.

 

[GetawaysRus]

The whole concept of growing crops in a desert escapes me.
Kurt

Desert land is cheap. All the better if you can steal water.

My wife owned a 2.5 acre parcel in California in a rural semi-desert region. If it had been near the ocean, it would have been worth enough to retire on. It reached a peak value of nearly 15K a number of years ago when marijuana growers were thirsty for land. Soon after we put it on the market for sale, the local council banned marijuana grows. Its value then plummeted and land sales in the area dried up.

We did finally sell it for 7K a few years later. Now think about that. 7K for 2.5 acres of flat (all usable) land. Where I live in Southern California (and we are about an hour inland from the coast), half an acre is easily worth 350-400K. I doubt that anyone in his right mind is going to start a large marijuana grow in my neighborhood - the land cost seems prohibitive.

 

[Brett]

Desert land is cheap. All the better if you can steal water.

My wife owned a 2.5 acre parcel in California in a rural semi-desert region. If it had been near the ocean, it would have been worth enough to retire on. It reached a peak value of nearly 15K a number of years ago when marijuana growers were thirsty for land. Soon after we put it on the market for sale, the local council banned marijuana grows. Its value then plummeted and land sales in the area dried up.

We did finally sell it for 7K a few years later. Now think about that. 7K for 2.5 acres of flat (all usable) land. Where I live in Southern California (and we are about an hour inland from the coast), half an acre is easily worth 350-400K. I doubt that anyone in his right mind is going to start a large marijuana grow in my neighborhood - the land cost seems prohibitive.

2.5 acres would sell for less in Virginia. There's plenty of water.
Maybe it's time to get into the weed bizness