According to Ed Valenzuela, a Siskiyou County supervisor, it鈥檚 common to see dozens of water trucks driving down rural county roads to what he believes are illegal marijuana farms.
鈥淢arijuana is the big driver here,鈥� Valenzuela says. 鈥淲e have a huge proliferation of illegal grows that we have been experiencing for the last few years.鈥�
On Tuesday the supervisors that prohibits water trucks from using certain roads in unincorporated parts of the county. If trucks carrying 100 or more gallons of water are caught, they will be fined $100 fine and be charged with a misdemeanor or infraction. The ordinance applies to around a dozen roads outlined in in the Butte Valley and Big Springs areas of Siskiyou County, because of cannabis farming operations there. It does not apply to emergency vehicles.
While the water being shipped may have been purchased legally from agricultural wells, commercial marijuana farming is under a 2019 ordinance. Commercial marijuana can legally be grown in California and commercial hemp is allowed in Siskiyou County.
Valenzuela acknowledges $100 could be a small price to pay for large-scale, illicit marijuana farms, but he says, it鈥檚 a start.
鈥淚f this was a legal operation, I think we鈥檇 be talking about a completely different scenario. Illegal marijuana has been around in Siskiyou County unfortunately for a long time, and it鈥檚 just getting way out of hand and we鈥檙e just trying to get our hands around it,鈥� he says.
