BOARD AUTHORIZES HEMP GROWER REGULATIONS

The Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved a series of regulations on where and how hemp growers can operate in unincorporated areas of Riverside County, prohibiting grows where water availability is already a challenge.

“We cannot allow groundwater basins to be depleted under any circumstance,” Supervisor Kevin Jeffries said. “That would be devastating to a community.”

The Industrial Hemp Cultivation & Manufacturing Ordinance was passed on Nov. 10 following a 90-minute hearing in which water, property setbacks and whether current growers should be “grandfathered” in to the regulatory scheme were all debated.

The ordinance expressly prohibits hemp cultivation — indoor or outdoor — in large swaths of the Santa Margarita River Watershed, extending roughly from De Luz, just west of Temecula, east to

Anza, south to the San Diego County line and north to Diamond Valley Lake near Hemet. However, there are several pockets carved out and authorized for cultivation, as long as permit applicants have ready access to a well or can obtain a “will serve” letter from a water supplier guaranteeing that they will receive sufficient flow to sustain their grow.

Growers who obtained permits from the county previously and are located in a restricted area, such as Sage, received a two-year waiver from the Board of Supervisors to continue with their operation. Similar “grandfather” clauses will be applied to other growers who have established operations.

Under the new ordinance, registration and licensing will continue through the Transportation & Land Management Agency. Among the requirements:

indoor and outdoor hemp cultivation must be a minimum of 1,000 feet from all schools, day care centers, public parks and youth centers;

all indoor cultivation sites must rely on 20 percent renewable energy for production; and

all sites must have water conservation and recapturing mechanisms to “minimize use of water where feasible.”

The ordinance mandates limitations on hours of operation to reduce noise, and hemp production will not be permitted to be co-located with cannabis grows.