Rural Oklahoma lawmakers and other officials are claiming marijuana grows are creating an issue for rural water resources.
Tulsa World’s Samantha Vicent writes during an interim study, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) said it has received 16 complaints about cannabis businesses improperly accessing water for grow operations. That makes up about a third of all the complaints OWRB has received in 2021.
OWRB says it relies on complaints, instead of cross checking databases with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority because it is hard to match up the data.
While it is also unclear how many illicit cannabis operations are accessing water supplies, Rep. Anthony Moore is concerned about “accelerated aquifer depletion.”
Read the Tulsa World story here.
