Not Wild About Hoops

Our county could soon have thousands of plastic-covered hoop structures for growing cannabis (and other crops) in our riverbeds.

Is that legal? Not right now, but it will become legal if the county approves a new ordinance.

But wait, could fertilizing crops grown in a river bed affect water quality? Yup.

If there is a heavy storm, could the plastic coverings of the hoop houses rip off and go downstream? Yup.

Won’t acres and acres of 200-foot-long, 20-foot-tall plastic structures in the river affect habitat that benefits all of us? Yup.

Could it increase crime and illegal trespassing? Yup.

So why would the county allow it? Hard to say what any individual decision maker is thinking, but pot and other farmers who own or rent land that extends into a riverbed are lobbying to be allowed to grow there.

Putting fertilizer where it will enter the water we drink is nuts. Adding plastic and crime just makes it more nuts.

Sometimes helping farmers is counter to the public’s needs. This is one such time.