Marijuana growers in Washington and Colorado and other states cannot use irrigation water from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to grow their crops.
The agency on Tuesday said that marijuana growing remains illegal under federal law, so irrigation water from its dams cannot be used to grow pot even in states that have legalized recreational or medical use of the drug.
The Reclamation Bureau provides irrigation water in 17 states, mostly in the West, and the prohibition against using that water to grow pot applies to all of them.
It's not immediately clear how many growers, if any, planned to use federal irrigation water to grow marijuana.
Local water districts that receive water from the bureau had requested a decision on whether the water could be used to grow pot.
