Research Summary — Cannabis and residential groundwater pumping impacts on streamflow and ecosystems in Northern California

In this 2019 study, Cannabis and residential groundwater pumping impacts on streamflow and ecosystems in Northern California, authors Samuel C Zipper, Jennifer K Carah, Christopher Dillis, Tom Gleeson, Ben Kerr, Melissa M Rohde, Jeanette K Howard, and Julie K H Zimmerman demonstrate the application of analytical depletion functions for evaluating impacts of groundwater pumping from different water uses.

This study was made possible with funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Resources Council of Canada, SD Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, University of Victoria, The Nature Conservancy — California, and Foundry Spatial. With their help, authors quantified the impact of an emerging agricultural frontier, Cannabis cultivation, on water resources, using the Navarro River (Coastal Range) in Northern California as a case study.