If you are planning to obtain a California Department of Food and Agriculture Cannabis Cultivation (CalCannabis) License beginning on January 1, 2018, you must provide documentation of your water supply source with your cultivation license application. Certain water diversion types require completion and submittal of special forms to the State Water Resource Control Board (State Water Board) by June 30, 2017. Some water right types, including Small Irrigation Use Registrations and existing Water Right Permits do not require information to be submitted to the State Water Board by this date. Please review the Cannabis Cultivation licensing requirements for additional information.
In accordance with the Business and Professions Code Section 19332.2 (b), CalCannabis requires cultivators to provide documentation to the State Water Board – Division of Water Rights by June 30, 2017 for the following situations:
- Water is already being diverted under a riparian right. An Initial Statement of Diversion and Use must be on file with the Division of Water Rights.
- Pending application to appropriate water.
- Water is planned to be diverted and used under a riparian right and no diversion occurred in any calendar year between January 1, 2010 and January 1, 2017; Form 19332.2 (b)(5)
- The water diversion is from a spring that does NOT flow off the property on which it is located. The aggregate diversions from this person do not exceed 25 acre-feet in any year; Form 19332.2 (b)(4)
- A notice is on file with the State Water Board for the recordation of groundwater extractions and diversion of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura Counties; Form 19332.2 (b)(4)
- A diversion is regulated by a Watermaster appointed by the Department of Water Resources and included in annual reports filed with a court or the State Water Board by a Watermaster, which reports identify the persons who divert water and describe the general purposes and the place, the use, and the quantity of water that has been diverted from each source; Form 19332.2 (b)(4)
- A diversion is included in annual reports filed with the court or State Water Board by a Watermaster appointed by a court or filed pursuant to statute to administer a final judgment determining rights to water, for which reports identify the persons who have diverted water and give the general place of use and the quantity that has been diverted from each source. Form 19332.2 (b)(4)
If you are unsure which category your water source belongs, or need further assistance, please visit our Cannabis webpage or contact Division of Water Rights staff at WB-DWR-CannabisReg@waterboards.ca.gov or 916-341-5300.
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