Today, Oregon becomes the latest state to sell recreational marijuana. Last week, south of the OR/CA border, one of the biggest pot raids in California history went down. The eradication of 85,000 plants by Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity Sheriff Depts assisted by the DEA wasn’t just about pot though. It was mostly about water. In the drought-stricken Golden State, unscrupulous weed-farmers are illegally damning creeks in order to irrigate massive pot farms.

Giant bladder used to store water for a marijuana farm. It was among evidence uncovered during 4-day marijuana eradication campaign in California’s Emerald Triangle. Photo: Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, released June 26, 2015.

The unexpected story, with unexpected photos (left), is the latest jenky development in the decades long saga of grey-market grows, mind-bending profits and sporadic enforcements.

The driving forces in the back-and-forth about pot production in California change with each season. Five years ago, no one was talking about water. Everyone feared big business. In 2010, California voters were deciding whether or not to regulate the marijuana industry. Small-holding pot farmers feared regulation would spell the end for their livelihoods as corporations moved in on the lucrative industry.

Also in 2010, photographer H. Lee was living on a pot farm in the heart of the Emerald Triangle. Now is a good moment to revisit Lee’s pioneering work which show us, from the inside, the sheds, the plants, the people and the infrastructure of a hardworking and vigilant community.