No Federal Water in Colorado and Washington for Marijuana Cultivation

Just when I/you thought progress was being made, “Feds won’t allow water for pot growers” is the headline of the  story just released by McClatchy DC.

The US Bureau of Reclamation “delivers water to more than 31 million people and one out of every five Western farmers.”  The agency announced today that Washington and Colorado marijuana growers cannot use its water for cultivation of marijuana  because of the agency’s responsibility to be “consistent with the Controlled Substances Act.”  The story states that “the decision could hit particularly hard in Washington state” because the US Bureau ” controls the water supply for two-thirds of Washington state’s irrigated land.”  The US DOJ will decide how to handle violators.

As Tom Angell of Marijuana Majority.  stated in an earlier Huff Post story on the water ban, “this water issue highlights the urgent need to actually change federal law.”  

NOTE: Could someone let me know the legal  authority for the Bureau’s decision? Thanks!