Known for its starry skies, Joshua Trees and 100-plus-degree heat, California鈥檚 vast desert has recently become a hotbed of something else: thieves stealing California鈥檚 water.
So who鈥檚 on the receiving end of all this theft? Local investigators say it鈥檚 often
And with the parched state in a t, water managers are doubling as amateur detectives.
For months, they watched as demand for water spiked. They hired security firms and sent drones to see where the water was going. It wasn鈥檛 long before the local water czars caught on to a phenomenon happening across parched California: bandits are tapping into fire hydrants and rivers, filling stations and wells
鈥淚t鈥檚 usually done in the dark of night,鈥� said a local water manager who didn鈥檛 want to be identified because of safety concerns. 鈥淪o, you鈥檒l start to see footprints or you鈥檒l see water or wet spots or they鈥檒l leave the hydrant cap off the hydrant.鈥�
Another local water leader backed out of an interview, citing the same fears.
The desert is now strewn with pot farms. California allows them with proper permits and local approval 鈥� which San Bernardino County has not given.
The state also is one of the few places where illegally growing seven marijuana plants can yield the same punishment as illegally growing seven thousand: a misdemeanor and a $500 fine.
About 80% of California鈥檚 roughly 30,000 pot farms are illegal, according to the state water board.
鈥淲here cultivation is illegal is where we鈥檙e seeing the highest occurrence of water theft complaints,鈥� said Yvonne West, director of enforcement for the . 鈥淪o these cultivators are turning to theft of municipal or groundwater supplies to support their illegal cultivations.鈥�
Through the end of June, 125 Californians reported water thefts to state authorities 鈥� more than twice as many as a decade ago.
In Helendale, along historic Route 66, the water district hired a private security guard to investigate who was stealing water.
鈥淲e found there was a multitude of locations that were illegal grows,鈥� said Kelly Gregg, vice president of Liberty Protection Services. 鈥淭hey were pulling water from some of those locations are on abandoned properties, private properties, and the like.鈥�
Without photographing a culprit in the act, water theft is hard to catch and often more complex than blatantly stealing from a hydrant.
A court ruling limits how much groundwater Helendale residents can pump. Groundwater pumping is already causing California鈥檚 valley floors to sink. But when black market buyers show up with their tanks and their cash, landowners cut deals.
鈥淲ells in many cases are now abandoned, or the people that are living in those houses with the wells will sell their water to these haulers, in some cases, not knowing that it is an inappropriate use,鈥� said Kimberly Cox, general manager of the Helendale Community Services District.
Local authorities are responsible for enforcing well restrictions. The state can step in for other 鈥渁qua crimes鈥�. It can fine bandits up to $1,000 a day 鈥� but that鈥檚 a pittance for players in a multi-billion dollar pot industry. And state鈥檚 80-person team hasn鈥檛 been able to keep up as the crimes increase.
鈥淲e accept those complaints, we review them, we triage them, and then we prioritize them,鈥� West said. 鈥淎nd in situations where we have authority, we will investigate and prosecute aggressively any water theft.鈥滾ocal police have started raiding more illegal grows. In addition, several counties passed resolutions petitioning state lawmakers for more power to prosecute water theft.
Meanwhile, Johnson Valley resident Jo Hansen says she stays home more often to keep an eye out for poachers. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know who breaks my water lines and does all this chaotic crap they do, but I mean, they steal constantly up here,鈥� she said.
鈥淚s there a mechanism to cut off the water these farms without having the response be very negative and forceful?鈥� asked the local water manager who wanted to remain anonymous. 鈥淣o one, no one鈥檚 tried this. We鈥檙e not enforcement officers, we don鈥檛 carry guns.鈥�
Some are taking a more confrontational approach.
鈥淏ecause the sheriffs aren鈥檛 able to get on things fast enough, and we鈥檙e out here, kind of a desolate desert, most of the residents are starting to take matters into their own hands and starting to take care of it themselves scaring off the guys that are bleeding the grounds out before they can erect the greenhouses, so it doesn鈥檛 get built,鈥� said county resident Greg Bruning.When Gov. Gavin Newsom asked Californians to cut their water use by 15%, many braced for the possibility of .
鈥淭here is a reluctance to ask our customers to cut back when there are when there is this kind of customer seems to be taking the water without regard for the drought,鈥� the water manager said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not legal. It鈥檚 just not legal. And so you鈥檙e dealing with a lawless situation, and you鈥檙e trying to come after it with a lawful approach.鈥�
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