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Opinion: Water theft in Petaluma is intolerable

It is intolerable for local governments to ask ordinary citizens to make sacrificesā€” including not growing vegetable gardens or watering lawnsā€”while they look the other way when cannabis growers filch public water during Californiaā€™s worst drought in a millennium.

The City of Petalumaā€™s website announces a vast array of water restrictions that the City Council has placed on residents of Petaluma because of the drought. These include outdoor watering only twice a week; no use of potable water for washing sidewalks, driveways, or buildings; no vehicle washing at home; no filling of new or existing pools; no planting of landscapes that require water; and potable water meters for construction limited to use for water line hydrostatic testing and chlorination.

Last summer our members observed flagrant water theft in Petaluma. Tankers filled up from Petaluma city hydrants and delivered the cityā€™s potable water to cannabis cultivation projects, violating the Petaluma ordinance, the countyā€™s cannabis ordinance, and flying in the face of Petalumaā€™s demands to residents to reduce water usage. We photographed a Petaluma Creamery tanker and its license plate that took water from a hydrant close to Ray's tavern (900 Western Ave, Petaluma), and reported it to Petaluma officials.

Nothing was done except we think a city official telephoned the permit holder to warn that the illegal activity had been observed and to be more careful. We were told by the officials that eye witness accounts and photographic evidence at hydrants and on public roads leading to cannabis grows was insufficient evidence to undertake an investigation. One Agriculture Department regulator suggested that the public trespass on the cannabis property to obtain additional photographs.

We are writing to ask what additional steps the City of Petaluma will take this year to thwart such illegal water thefts. Will you devote sufficient investigative resources to stop these activities? Is using city water for cannabis cultivation while you urge ordinary residents to conserve water acceptable to the mayor and city council? Will the city council amend its ordinance to permanently ban permit holders and levy significant fines for those who make illegal diversions?

Thank you for considering and addressing our concerns.

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