The California Drought has left the Golden State parched and brown, and scientists say it’s only going to get worse. It’s gotten so bad that law enforcement are now reporting that water theft is becoming increasingly common within California.
Despite this epic drought , California has no way of monitoring exactly who is tapping into its freshwater supplies and how much they take. California has meters or gauges to measure their diversions, but the state has no ability of its own to monitor those gauges in real-time.
The State Water Resources Control Board has about 22 employees assigned to investigate suspected illegal diversions within California. Wildlife officers often conduct their own investigations and refer illegal diversions to the water board for enforcement.
Law enforcement agencies have not yet formulated a state-wide solution to combat the problem brought on by the drought. While the drought has exacerbated the problem, the lack of police resources is certainly a major issue that California has to combat in order to solve the problem.
One county in California, Mendocino County, has set up a water-theft hotline to investigate every tip. The sheriff’s office deploys patrols to sniff out suspicious activity.
Reports of water theft within California have dramatically risen in the past year. According to National Journal , in August, a sheriff’s deputy there followed a trail of water droplets up a dirt road where he discovered a truck outfitted with a water tank. A confession came quickly. The driver had siphoned water from a nearby canal and planned to sell it to the highest bidder.
The Public Works Department in Lemoore, in Kings County, hired someone to scan city streets for thieves after officials found evidence that someone had been stealing water from fire hydrants. Even fire departments in California are becoming easy targets for those stealing water for the black market.
At the height of wildfire season in the summer, a fire station in North San Juan, a town nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, had thousands of gallons of water stolen from them.
“We were just absolutely stunned,” said Boyd Johnson, a battalion chief with the North San Juan fire department. “Fires are on everyone’s mind during the summer so to see this happen, I think it really scared people.”
With no end to the California drought in sight, how long will it take for the federal government to step in and help California?
[Image via trunews.com and Google Images]