The California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) encourages cannabis licensees, including cultivators, impacted by the water drought to request disaster relief.

Climate change has caused severe water droughts in California communities. Since California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued his third state of emergency July 8, 2021—following one in April and another in May—extremely high temperatures have sustained and “increased water loss from reservoirs and streams, increased demands by communities and agriculture, and further depleted California’s water supplies,” the state of emergency states.

According to a press release from the DCC, state and local agencies throughout California are working to find ways to support water conservation efforts, which includes launching programs in certain jurisdictions where cultivators can converse water by fallowing their crops.

“If relief from DCC licensing requirements would make it economically feasible to participate in local fallowing programs, or would otherwise support California’s water conservation efforts, DCC encourages licensees to request disaster relief,” the DCC wrote in the release.

Licensees who cannot comply with the DCC’s licensing requirements due to disasters, such as the water drought crisis, may be eligible for disaster relief. Licensees must identify which DCC regulations they are requesting relief for and explain why the relief is needed.

“Long-term weather forecasts for the winter rainy season, dire storage conditions of California’s largest reservoirs, low moisture content in native vegetation and parched soils, magnify the likelihood that drought impacts will continue in 2022 and beyond,” the state of emergency states.

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