--- description: Marijuana crops are guzzling so much water, the state's fisheries and wildlife could be at risk title: Marijuana Plants Draining Drought-Wracked California image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38cd2e0edf3afb04/698689673bc9993a621a2ce0/ap635033372522.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Thirsty Marijuana Plants Draining Drought-Wracked California by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 7, 2014 7:59 PM CUT  FILE - This Feb. 1, 2011 file photo shows medical marijuana clone plants at a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, Calif. Despite new rules that say only about 140 medical marijuana dispensaries are eligible to stay open, more than 450 have filed renewals to pay Los Angeles business taxes this year. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) FILE - This Feb. 1, 2011 file photo shows medical marijuana clone plants at a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, Calif. Despite new rules that say only about 140 medical marijuana dispensaries are eligible to stay open, more than 450 have filed renewals to pay Los Angeles business taxes this year. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)Jeff Chiu—AP by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 7, 2014 7:59 PM CUT California cannabis growers may be making millions, but their thirsty plants are sucking up a priceless resource: water. Now scientists say that if no action is taken in the [drought-wracked state,](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/parched-california-water-fetching-record-prices-n146491 "undefined") the consequences for fisheries and wildlife will be dire. “If this activity continues on the trajectory it’s on, we’re looking at potentially streams going dry, streams that harbor endangered fish species like salmon, steelhead,” said Scott Bauer of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. [Read more at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/legal-pot/water-guzzling-pot-plants-draining-drought-wracked-california-n149861?cid=par-time-article%5F20140707 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2963500/california-drought-marijuana-plant/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2963500/california-drought-marijuana-plant/"},"headline":"Thirsty Marijuana Plants Draining Drought-Wracked California","datePublished":"2014-07-07T19:59:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:00:22.542Z","description":"Marijuana crops are guzzling so much water, the state's fisheries and wildlife could be at risk","url":"https://time.com/2963500/california-drought-marijuana-plant/","keywords":["Drugs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38cd2e0edf3afb04/698689673bc9993a621a2ce0/ap635033372522.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38cd2e0edf3afb04/698689673bc9993a621a2ce0/ap635033372522.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Medical Marijuana-Taxes","caption":"Medical Marijuana-Taxes","creditText":"Jeff Chiu—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2963500/california-drought-marijuana-plant/","name":"Thirsty Marijuana Plants Draining Drought-Wracked California"}}]}] ```