Nestlé has been abusing water privileges in California for decades. The water-bottler has been pumping water out of a California national forest for 25 years on an expired permit. Finally, some movement as Nestlé’s pipeline in San Bernadino is being reviewed.
In December, national forest service spokesman John Heil said his agency “has begun the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) review to analyze the effects of re-issuing a special use permit for Nestle.”
Established in 1970, NEPA requires the federal government to use all practical means to create and maintain conditions “under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony.”
One way to accomplish that is to not allow a multi-billion dollar company to run roughshod over a state during a historic drought. With the exposure of Nestlé’s malfeasance has come activism and that activism has brought about the beginnings of some change.
Since its permit expired, in 1988, Nestle has been drawing what now amounts to millions of gallons of water from the rugged Strawberry Canyon in the San Bernardino Mountains, north of San Bernardino.
Nestlé is working with a special permit right now as they get their lapsed permit and their pipeline reviewed. There’s the very likely chance that Nestlé will end up paying a nominal fine or two and then proceed forward with a lot of talk about how they’re making things more environmentally sound.
The important thing now is to continue to hold Nestlé and our regulatory bodies accountable for turning our water into their privatized wine.