SALEM — The number of water law violations in Oregon has continued climbing in 2022, building on a trend that state regulators have observed during the past five years.

So far this year, state water regulators have issued 50 notices of violation for unlawful irrigation and other problems, up from 40 in all of 2021 and five times as many as in 2018.

“They have increased dramatically in recent years, largely due to illegal cannabis,” said Ivan Gall, field services division administrator for the Oregon Water Resources Department.

Black market marijuana producers have been known to steal water, but OWRD has also encountered regulated cannabis growers who’ve run afoul of water law — for example, by using domestic water sources for commercial production.

Concerns about adverse impacts from marijuana and hemp production in Oregon have prompted legal reforms and increased funding for cannabis regulation, such as the $5 million approved specifically for OWRD’s water rights enforcement last year.

Employees from OWRD have been working in conjunction with law enforcement officers who destroy illegal marijuana plants and associated irrigation equipment during raids, Gall said during a Sept. 1 meeting of the state’s water resources commission.

“That is by far the most effective way to get compliance with water law,” he said.

The water rights enforcement money was approved last year as part of an “unprecedented” investment in water resources, including funding for irrigation projects, drought assistance and basin studies, according to the agency.

Since last summer, OWRD has hired 27 new field services employees, including seven dedicated enforcement employees focused on cannabis, which has increased the division’s staff size by nearly 50%.

“We’re looking forward to some exciting times,” Gall said. “It’s really exciting to be filling these positions.”

Watermasters and other field services employees responded to 1,120 complaints and initiated 732 investigations last year, in additional to conducting more than 23,000 checks to ensure compliance with water rights rules.

The field services division also inspected more than 1,550 wells in 2021, finding construction deficiencies in about 15% of the newly-constructed ones, and about 160 of the 950 dams that come under state’s regulatory jurisdiction.

The expanded field services workforce will provide more “boots on the ground” and improve data collection at a time when water supplies are increasingly lacking, Gall said.

For example, in the past couple years, the state has experienced a serious problem with domestic wells going dry due to depleted groundwater levels.

“It doesn’t look like it’s going to get resolved in the short term, so I think that’s going to be an ongoing workload the agency will need to deal with,” he said.

Illegal water diversions by illicit marijuana producers have been relatively minor on an individual basis, but that doesn’t mean the issue is inconsequential, Gall said.

“Although small, in total they can certainly add up to problems, especially in times of scarcity,” he said.