Enchantment State News

The increased cultivation of medical marijuana in New Mexico is putting a strain on rural well-water systems using treated drinking water not wastewater, and all officials can do right now is complain about it.

“The cannabis companies may think that water rights were already taken care of when they purchased the property,” Pena Blanca Water District President John Gurule told the Albuquerque Journal. “We see the potential for these farms to bring economic growth to a rural community, so how do we support that growth while bringing water to our residents?"

Pena Blanca is located in Sandoval County in the northeastern part of the state, as are water districts at the Cochiti and Kewa pueblos. The populations are sparse, 661 in Pena Blanca and 528 people at Cochiti.

The Sile Water System serves 154 people west of the Rio Grande River between the Cochiti and Kewa pueblos. The Pena Blanca system serves 448 people on the east side of the river between the two pueblos.

Gurule said the problem is the intensity of water use of the medical marijuana farms. An average household in the area uses about 3,000 gallons of water per month. A medical marijuana farm uses 20,000 gallons of domestic water per month.

Board members of the Sile and Pena Blanca water districts sent letters of concern to New Mexico legislators and state agencies last month. They said that treated drinking water and not recycled grey water is likely being used in abundance by the marijuana growers, taxing the area’s well systems.

Domestic well water may not be used for agriculture in the state, but the New Mexico Dept. of Agriculture (NMDA) that regulates the growing of crops does not have authority over medical marijuana production. Pot growing falls under the regulation of the New Mexico Dept. of Health (NMDH).

Medical marijuana producers currently do not have to disclose water rights or water management practices when applying for a license.

“The NMDA regulates agronomic crops until the point of harvest,” a department spokesperson said in the Journal report. “Medical cannabis is not considered a traditional economic crop, which is why the regulation falls under the Dept. of Health.”

Officials questioned indicated the legalizing of medical marijuana growing and the emergence of its industry has simply occurred too recently and too fast for regulations to keep up. According to the Journal, the NMDH increased the number of plants growers could grow last March and four growers in Sandoval County upped their production from 450 to 2,500 plants before a limit was set at 1,750 plants.

“We come from resource-poor communities,” Gurule said. “We don’t have the infrastructure to move the quantity of water the farms need.”

The plants are water-intensive; one plant requires six gallons of water every day.

In an attempt to gain greater control, a Cannabis Regulation Act was introduced in the New Mexico State Legislature in 2019 and passed the House, only to die in the Senate.

“It’s important that legislation create a robust framework to deal with these important issues – that currently doesn’t exist,” New Mexico state Rep. Javier Martinez (D-Albuquerque), co-sponsor of the Cannabis Regulation Act, told the Journal.

New Mexico legalized medical marijuana in 2007. California, which legalized medical marijuana in 1996 and recreational marijuana in 2018, currently regulates wastewater discharges from cannabis farms. 

The New Mexico Environmental Dept. might follow suit if the state legalizes recreational marijuana, according to the Journal.