SY035-0003
Water availability for cannabis in northern California: intersections of climate, policy and public discourse

Thursday, 10 December 2020
Poster
Jacob Stuivenvolt Allen1, Betsy Morgan2, Kaitlyn Spangler3, Christina Morrisett4, Mark W. Brunson3, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang5 and Nancy Huntly6, (1)Utah State University, Department of Plant, Soils, and Climate, Logan, UT, United States, (2)Utah State University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Logan, UT, United States, (3)Utah State University, Department of Environment and Society, Logan, UT, United States, (4)Utah State University, Department of Watershed Sciences, Logan, UT, United States, (5)Utah State University, Department of Plant, Soils and Climate, Logan, UT, United States, (6)Utah State University, Logan, UT, United States
Abstract:
We carried out an interdisciplinary study to explore how climate, water policy, and public discourse affect water availability for cannabis (Cannabis sativa), a booming legal specialty crop in northern California. Streamflow in northern California is largely modulated by climate variability as evident from an energetic 11-17 year wet-dry cycle. When contemporary cannabis water policies were assessed against historic streamflow data, legal surface water access for cannabis growers was rarely met. Finally, a content analysis revealed that media coverage has followed a seasonal pattern, with the most attention given to cannabis and water in the summer months when streamflow is most depleted. This publishing trend is accompanied by frequent discussions of the regulatory framework for cannabis water use and the implications of non-compliant cultivators, with little published discussion of the broader role of climate and weather in mediating water supply. Water policy in northern California must account for the pronounced decadal variability in regional moisture shown in this study as it adapts to include a new agricultural crop as a legal water user.
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