SYRCL’s vision is to inspire the community to engage in sustainable and ecologically sound cannabis cultivation in the Yuba River watershed.
Our scientists and concerned community members recognize that the environmental impacts of unregulated, large-scale cannabis cultivation are real.
SYRCL wants to help growers understand how regulation can be a tool that allows agriculture to align with objectives that maintain water quality, and promote habitat for fish and wildlife.
In 2016, California took the positive step towards regulating cannabis cultivation with Proposition 64. Nevada County was the only county in the Yuba River watershed to regulate cannabis cultivation and protect our water resources.
Unfortunately, as of 2020, cannabis impacts in the Yuba River watershed are still largely unregulated due to lack of resources and regulations on federal land as well as Sierra, Yuba and Placer counties.
SYRCL remains vigilant to the environmental impacts of unregulated cannabis operations while striving to be an active participant in the regulatory process for legal cannabis cultivation operations.
As a community we can educate each other to ensure cannabis is grown in an environmentally responsible and sustainable way.
The most concerning impacts in the Yuba are:
The overuse of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, polluting the water and poisoning wildlife.
Illegal water diversions that result in loss of late season stream flow and dry up creeks. The diversions also increase pollution and algae blooms in our streams and rivers.
Cultivating cannabis on public and forested lands causes deforestation and illegal land grading, damaging habitat for native fish and wildlife.
SYRCL’s Growing Green for the Yuba program aims to inspire the community to practice sustainable and ecologically sound cannabis cultivation in the Yuba River watershed. One way we achieve this is through education on Best Management Practices (BMPs).
Cannabis cultivation has been present in the Yuba watershed for decades and is expected to stay well into the future. Like many common agricultural crops, cannabis cultivation has the potential to affect local water quality and watershed health. In fact, the Yuba River has been designated as a “priority watershed” for cannabis issues due to severe impacts by egregious, illegal grows.
SYRCL launched a survey in March of this year to learn more about both community attitudes toward cannabis cultivation as well as opportunities and challenges cannabis cultivators face regarding the compliance process. Find out what what people had to say as well as our findings and recommendations.
The Nevada County Cannabis Alliance would like to thank SYRCL for the important work of assembling the cannabis impact study which has provided valuable policy recommendations for the community to consider. An important theme that we continue to hear is the significant impact from egregious unpermitted farms. The majority of survey respondents would like to see greater enforcement on these sites and our organization agrees. These large unpermitted egregious farms have a significant environmental impact that may be dangerously affecting our Yuba and Bear River Watersheds.