Cities across the Coachella Valley are embracing large-scale marijuana farming, despite a significant shortage of groundwater that could prove to be a problem in the future.
Desert Hot Springs is at the top of the list.
“I will tell you that, hands down, the city has been more embracing and receptive to our industry than others have,” said Greta Carter, partner of High Road Consulting Group.
“Some cities will try to overregulate us. Desert Hot Springs has been rational about what the right amount of regulation is. We believe we have found a piece of heaven here, so we’re pretty excited.”
Cathedral City and Coachella are also jumping into the green fray. For now, conservationists are taking a wait and see approach as far as the water is concerned. No special regulations are being imposed on the marijuana industry and there aren’t any major problems yet. Whether any develop will depend on how ubiquitous the plants get and how much water they actually consume.
There’s some debate about how much water marijuana crops take in. Generally though, indoor marijuana farming like we’re seeing in Desert Hot Springs, requires less water than the outdoor kind.