California officials are considering policies to protect the state's water resources from the growing problems associated with legal marijuana cultivation. The proliferation of farms, both legal and illegal, has exploded in the state due to the loosening of legal prohibitions on the sale of marijuana.
After initially declining to place its agency inspectors at risk, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board approved allowing its field personnel to accompany law enforcement to inspect marijuana farms. The sparsely populated regions of the western flank of the Sierra Nevada range have attracted growers who operate with little regard for the safety of the streams and groundwater.