Thieves are stealing California’s scarce water. Where’s it going? Illegal marijuana farms

Question

As drought grips most of California, water theft has increased to record levels. Illicit marijuana growers are a main culprit. Thieves tap into hydrants, pump water from rivers and break into remote water stations and tanks.

Answer 1

It is true that the most common access point for stealing Californias water is fire hydrants, rivers, and homes/ farms. This issue has been a long occurrence in California but most recently it is popular for the growth of marijuana. This idea is supported by CNN's fact that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife arrested 95 people from "illegal marijuana growth operations". 

CNN source

Comments

Thanks for fact checking and linking your source. Since both your source and the article in the original post are from 2021, I wanted to add a more recent investigation into this issue:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-28/panoche-official-pleads-guilty-in-water-theft-conspiracy

This article, from a reliable news outlet in 2024, says that one water district manager stole over $25 million worth of water out of a federal irrigation canal. However, it doesn't mention anything about a connection to the marijuana industry.