Nearly 300 Cannabis Cultivators Receive Warning From California Water Board

• Hemp cultivators in California are required to abide by the rules of the Division of Water Rights’ Cannabis Enforcement Section.
• Without compliance, the cultivators are at risk of no longer being allowed to use their property for hemp.

Growing hemp, like many other crops, requires certain resources to ensure that the plant gets the necessary nutrients to grow. However, in order to keep hemp crops from drying out, an incredible amount of water is needed on a daily basis. According to reports from Marijuana Business International Daily, the California Water Boards sent at least 270 letters to local hemp farmers within the Emerald Triangle. The farmers are required to comply with the current regulations, or they will be at risk for major fines and potentially the loss of the licenses that allow them to cultivate hemp.

On Twitter, the agency posted that the letters were sent by the Division of Water Rights’ Cannabis Enforcement Section to the residents in the Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity counties. The agency notified them that they “lack the appropriate permits for commercial cannabis cultivation.”

The letters were sent to any property or land owner,

“Whose land appears … to be used for cannabis cultivation or associated activities,” according to an example of a letter, as obtained by Marijuana Business Daily. The letter continues, saying, “However, there is no record of any person associated with this property having enrolled in the State Water Board’s Cannabis Cultivation Program.”

Recipients are urged to get permission to through the agency to receive proper authorization for water rights usage for the growth of marijuana. Without this permission, there’s a change of the recipients losing their permit for any state cannabis cultivation for their property.

In the three aforementioned counties, there were over 2,300 licenses issued last year.