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For the last decade, cannabis growers having been talking up their water efficiency and fighting to be allowed to grow on every farm, slope, and hill in the county. But now that prices are low and taxpayer handouts are on offer, cannabis wants to be included with our water intensive crops and be paid to fallow.

The cannabis industry claims to have a right to Sonoma's water on the false premise that since it generates more revenues per acre than some of our crops, it's a more efficient user of water. However, in a world where our water rights are not - yet - based on highest ability to pay, this is an irrelevant and dangerous equivalence to be citing.

The County has a large affordable housing mandate to fulfill -- yet no one seems to be talking about the additional water demand this will drive.

Permit Sonoma is spending $1M to expedite cannabis permitting - a high water intensity use frequently sited in low water availability areas. Shouldn't we be updating our water availability studies and building a better understanding of our watersheds' carrying capacity before we approve more high water uses on the basis of outdated or faulty data?

Cannabis irrigation water demand is many times higher than a single-family house or even wine grapes. It is unconscionable that we are approving more high-water intensive uses in areas that are already struggling to support existing and already permitted users.