BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Cannabis Cultivation and Water Charges (Responding to Board Member Request R-18-0011).
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Receive information on cannabis cultivation and water charges.
Body
SUMMARY:
This memorandum is in response to Board Member Request R-18-0011 from the April 24, 2018 Board meeting. The Board requested that staff look into whether the District could charge an "excessive use" charge for water used to grow cannabis, with the revenue going toward the Open Space Credit. Staff reviewed the District Act regarding water charges and state and local laws regarding cannabis cultivation. Based on that review, staff does not believe the District can impose a separate "excessive use" charge on water used to grow cannabis.
District Act Section 26.7.(a)(3)(A) requires that the groundwater "charge shall be computed at a fixed and uniform rate or rates per acre-foot for agricultural water, and at a fixed and uniform rate or rates per acre-foot for all water other than agricultural water." Different rates can be charged in different zones, but the charge for agricultural water or non-agricultural water within a zone needs to be fixed and uniform. In other words, under the District Act, the District must charge the same rate regardless of crop, in the case of agricultural use, or business, in the case of non-agricultural use.
The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) generally provides greater latitude than the District Act to impose fees to fund groundwater management activities. However, even under SGMA, the imposition of fees on a particular water user type would likely be problematic. The District would need to demonstrate a specific unique impact attributable to that water use. Furthermore, the District's SGMA implementation framework calls for working with groundwater users on a voluntary basis to implement action plans to address specific problems, to the extent possible.
The District sho...
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