Nestle Keeps Piping Water Despite Outdated Permit

Nestle keeps piping water from the national forest, although their permit is 28 years out of date. 

A federal judge has ruled that a permit allowing Nestle to pipe water out of the San Bernardino National Forest is valid, despite the fact that the permit listed 1988 as the expiration date and was never renewed.

The decision is a major blow for environmental groups that sued in an effort to stop Nestle from siphoning water out of public lands then sell it back to the public as bottled water.

The ruling, issued Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal, states that Nestle's permit remains valid because the company's predecessor reached out to the Forest Service about obtaining a new one and never got a response from the agency.

Instead, the Forest Service just let Nestle keep piping water out of the Strawberry Creek watershed, which is north of San Bernardino in the national forest.

Pipes take the water to a roadside holding tank, then it is driven to a bottling plant in Ontario so it can be sold as Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water.

Forest Service officials have said Nestle pays an annual permitting fee of $524 for permission to run its pipeline. The company piped an estimated 36 million gallons from the forest in 2015.

The lawsuit, filed in 2015, demanded that the Forest Service halt Nestle’s use of wells and piping in the forest. Plaintiffs, including the Center for Biological Diversity, argued that because the permit had expired years ago, the Forest Service had illegally allowed the company to continue taking water. Environmentalists also worry Strawberry Creek will dry up.

After years of inaction, the Forest Service is now re-examining Nestle’s permit. The agency has proposed to issue a permit that would allow Nestle to continue operating its wells and water pipelines in the forest for five years, and the permit process is to include environmental studies.

Nestle’s used of water from the forest is also being investigated by the state water board. The company has insisted its rights are “among the most senior water rights” in California, but state officials began investigating after receiving several complaints questioning whether company actually holds valid rights.

Source: The Desert Sun

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