2A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2015
Marijuana growers face irrigation complexities
Federal facilities,
other factors
complicate
water access
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
As Oregon’s marijuana in-
dustry emerges from the legal
shadows, growers are being
confronted with regulatory hur-
dles regarding irrigation, experts
say.
When cultivation of the psy-
choactive crop was criminal un-
der state law, compliance with
water rules was not the top-of-
mind worry for growers.
Those who now want to par-
ticipate in the legal marketplace
for recreational marijuana, how-
ever, are ¿ nding that irrigation
can pose an unexpected compli-
cation.
To qualify for commercial
marijuana-growing
licenses,
growers will face the same is-
sues with water rights as con-
ventional farmers as well as
problems that are unique to the
crop, which remains illegal un-
der federal law.
Earlier this year, aspiring
hemp and marijuana producer
Andrew Anderson of Bend was
noti¿ ed by his local irrigation
district that federal authorities
refused to allow their facilities
to be used to deliver water for
cannabis production.
Anderson said he hopes the
matter will be resolved over
time, but in the meantime he’s
drilling an agricultural well to
ensure he can irrigate his crop.
“I don’t think we’ll ever get a
chance to be part of an industry
that goes from nothing to a giant
conglomerate in a lifetime,” he
said.
without an intent to pro¿ t, he
said.
Commercial cannabis grow-
ers who want to cultivate the
crop inside a warehouse or an-
other property within a city can
also buy water from the munici-
pality, he said.
Some cities, counties
have opted out
Federal enforcement
in question
The U.S. Bureau of Recla-
mation, which operates some
water projects in the West, has
said it doesn’t intend to become
an “enforcer” of federal canna-
bis prohibitions, but it remains
to be seen how marijuana and
hemp production is treated by
the agency, said April Snell,
executive director of the Ore-
gon Water Resources Congress,
which represents irrigation dis-
tricts.
Each irrigation district in Or-
egon is likely to have a different
perspective on cannabis produc-
tion, particularly depending on
how reliant they are on federal
facilities, Snell said at a recent
cannabis workshop in Salem .
“They are like snowÀ akes.
From a distance they may look
Courtesy of Natascha Crater
Marijuana clones grow in containers under an indoor grow light. Growers who want to
produce the crop indoors or outdoors must contend with water regulations now that
recreational marijuana can be legally grown in Oregon.
the same but up close they all
have their own characteristics,”
she said.
Cannabis growers can ap-
ply for their own water right
to divert surface water for ir-
rigation or use land with an
existing water right — just
like other farmers, they’re
subject to shut-offs due to
water calls from senior wa-
ter rights holders, said Doug
ACCUWEATHER ® FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
Astoria 5-Day Forecast
Tonight
Oregon Weather
Shown is
tomorrow’s
weather.
Temperatures
are tonight’s
lows and
tomorrow’s
highs
Partly cloudy
44°
Friday
The Dalles
38/66
Astoria
44/64
Portland
42/65
Corvallis
37/64
Eugene
37/63
Pendleton
36/62
Salem
40/65
Albany
36/62
Saturday
Burns
21/64
Medford
38/73
Periods of clouds
and sunshine
Klamath Falls
25/66
Mostly cloudy
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2015
64°
46°
63°
Sunday
Monday
Chance for a
couple of afternoon
showers
64°
48°
Times of clouds
and sun
48°
65°
48°
Almanac
Sun and Moon
Astoria through Wednesday.
Temperatures
High ........................................... 61°
Low ............................................ 47°
Normal high ............................... 60°
Normal low ................................. 44°
Precipitation
Yesterday .............................. Trace"
Month to date .......................... 2.06"
Normal month to date ............. 3.45"
Year to date ........................... 33.30"
Normal year to date .............. 43.69"
Sunset tonight ..................
Sunrise Friday ..................
Moonrise today ................
Moonset today .................
Regional Cities
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newport
North Bend
6:17 p.m.
7:43 a.m.
3:43 p.m.
1:36 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
Oct 27
Nov 3
Nov 11
Nov 18
Under the Sky
Today
Hi Lo W
64 23 s
62 28 s
67 48 s
65 37 pc
60 51 pc
67 25 s
72 38 s
60 43 pc
63 44 pc
Hi
62
63
64
63
61
66
73
61
64
Fri.
Lo
26
34
51
39
50
30
42
47
46
Hi
81
53
69
62
69
60
75
35
88
76
73
79
81
83
85
82
83
60
78
62
73
63
74
58
67
Fri.
Lo
59
39
60
37
52
50
51
21
74
60
51
59
61
68
75
62
69
44
57
42
62
42
57
46
45
W
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
National Cities
City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Vancouver
Yakima
Today
Hi Lo W
60 38 pc
65 36 s
64 42 pc
66 41 pc
64 40 pc
61 49 pc
62 37 s
62 40 pc
68 34 s
Hi
59
62
65
69
65
63
59
63
66
Fri.
Lo
38
37
46
44
42
48
35
43
35
W
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
Tonight's Sky: The Great Square of Pegasus is
nearly overhead before midnight.
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Tomorrow’s Tides
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
High
10:42 a.m. 7.8 ft.
10:45 p.m. 7.7 ft.
Time
4:13 a.m.
4:51 p.m.
Low
0.6 ft.
1.5 ft.
Tomorrow’s National Weather
Today
City
Hi Lo W
Atlanta
80 57 s
Boston
71 45 pc
Chicago
63 49 s
Denver
53 39 r
Des Moines
69 58 pc
Detroit
66 43 s
El Paso
71 50 pc
Fairbanks
32 22 c
Honolulu
90 75 pc
Indianapolis
77 54 pc
Kansas City
77 60 pc
Las Vegas
78 59 s
Los Angeles
79 59 pc
Memphis
84 64 s
Miami
85 75 sh
Nashville
81 52 s
New Orleans
82 68 pc
New York
77 52 s
Oklahoma City 75 65
t
Philadelphia
78 52 s
St. Louis
83 62 s
Salt Lake City
64 45 pc
San Francisco
73 57 s
Seattle
58 45 pc
Washington, DC 77 55 s
W
s
s
pc
pc
r
s
s
s
s
pc
r
s
pc
pc
sh
s
pc
s
c
s
r
pc
pc
pc
s
Cold
Warm
Stationary
Showers
Rain
Flurries
Snow
Ice
-10s
-0s
0s
10s
20s
30s
40s
50s
60s
70s
80s
90s
100s
110s
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands
are highs for the day. Forecast high/low temperatures are given for selected cities.
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,
r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice.
CLATSOP
POWER
EQUIPMENT, INC.
SALES • SERVICE • RENTALS
New rules in place as
goose hunting season opens
New rules for hunting
Canada geese in northwest
Oregon will be in effect
when the n orthwest p ermit
g oose z one opens to hunting
on Saturday.
Gone are the require-
ments to check in geese at a
check station, which was in-
convenient for hunters. The
check-in requirement was
to screen for d usky Canada
geese , a subspecies of Can-
ada goose with a small pop-
ulation size.
Now, the d usky Cana-
da goose season is simply
closed. It is a wildlife viola-
tion to shoot one.
Legal shooting hours
have also been changed to
15 minutes after sunrise to
15 minutes before sunset.
“It is more important
than ever for hunters to
hold their fire unless they
are sure the target is not
a d usky Canada goose,”
Brandon Reishus, of the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, said in a state-
OREGON
Wednesday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 6-9-6-6
4 p.m.: 4-4-8-9
7 p.m.: 7-7-1-8
10 p.m.: 5-2-0-1
Wednesday’s
Mega-
bucks: 8-10-12-14-28-35
Estimated jackpot: $5.7
million.
Wednesday’s Powerball:
ment. “Hunters are advised
to focus efforts on cackling
Canada geese, which are
very abundant and easy to
identify.”
Goose hunters are still
required to pass the North-
west Oregon Goose Iden-
tification Test (http://bit.
ly/1OOpOsG) to hunt. Also,
the n orthwest p ermit and
n orthwest g eneral goose
zones are combined and
now the n orthwest p ermit
z one includes all of Ben-
ton, Clackamas, Clatsop,
Columbia, Lane, Lincoln,
Linn, Marion, Multnomah,
Polk, Tillamook, Washing-
ton and Yamhill counties.
The n orthwest p ermit
z one goose season will be
open Saturday — Nov. 1,
Nov. 21 — Jan. 12 and Feb.
6 — March 10. See page 22
of the Oregon Game Bird
Regulations at http://bit.
ly/1ODGTad for details.
30-32-42-56-57, Powerball:
11
Estimated jackpot: $100
million.
$130,000.
Wednesday’s Keno: 01-
06-07-11-20-21-27-29-32-33-
36-39-42-48-55-56-60-61-65-
76
Wednesday’s Lotto: 25-
28-32-33-40-44
Estimated jackpot: $5.7
million.
Wednesday’s Match 4:
03-14-16-19
WASHINGTON
Wednesday’s
Daily
Game: 0-3-4
Wednesday’s Hit 5: 05-
06-26-28-33
Estimated
jackpot:
Deaths
Oct. 20, 2015
KIRK, Ronald D., 51, of Seaside, died in
Seaside. Caldwell’s Funeral & Cremation Ar-
rangement Center in Seaside is in charge of the
arrangements.
Oct. 21, 2015
LEWIS, Lois Jean, 82, of Astoria, died in
Astoria. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary in
Astoria is in charge of the arrangements.
Oct. 22, 2015
SCHOESSLER, Melvin Richard, 92,
of Warrenton, died in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary in Astoria is in charge
of the arrangements.
Public meetings
THURSDAY
Sunset Empire Transportation District
Board, 9 a.m., Astoria Transit Center Confer-
ence Room, 900 Marine Drive.
Cannon Beach Planning Commission, 6
The Daily Astorian
Established July 1, 1873
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by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO
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34912 HWY 101 BUS • ASTORIA
503-325-0792 • 1-800-220-0792
Photo by Keith Kohl/Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
New rules have been imposed on hunting geese.
Lotteries
Fronts
T-Storms
trial and commercial uses.
However, those “exempt”
uses do not apply to growing
a crop, such as marijuana, for
pro¿ t, Woodcock said. “Irriga-
tion is not part of the commer-
cial exemption.”
Medical marijuana growers
often don’t face such restrictions
on groundwater because they
produce the crop for person-
al use or cultivate it for others
The Daily Astorian
Ontario
34/65
Bend
28/63
Woodcock, administrator of
the Oregon Water Resources
Department’s ¿ eld services
division.
“Know your water rights,”
Woodcock said, noting that the
right is speci¿ c as to the place
and type of use.
Drilling a well also requires
a water rights permit for agricul-
ture in Oregon, though exemp-
tions apply for domestic, indus-
At this point, though, 29 cit-
ies and 10 counties in Oregon
have decided not to allow mar-
ijuana production within their
boundaries, while others remain
undecided, said state Rep. Ken
Helm, D-Beaverton, who is a
land use attorney.
People who want to grow
marijuana in those undecided
areas should become involved
in the conversation with their lo-
cal governments, he said. “The
best place to start is the local
planning department.”
In counties that do allow
marijuana production, only “ex-
clusive farm use” zones allow
the crop to be grown outright,
said Katherine Daniels, farm
and forest lands specialist for
the Oregon Department of Land
Conservation and Development.
Whether the crop can be
commercially grown without re-
striction in industrial, commer-
cial and residential zones will
likely vary county-by-county,
she said.
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
MONDAY
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., Seaside City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
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