Millions of Gallons of California Water Piped Away on an Expired (1988) Permit!

[unokitty]

Piping water from a national forest

Nestle's permit to transport water across the national forest expired in 1988. It hasn't been reviewed since, and the Forest Service hasn't examined the ecological effects...

Even with California deep in drought, the federal agency hasn't assessed the impacts of the bottled water business on springs and streams in two watersheds that sustain sensitive habitats in the national forest...

No state agency is tracking exactly how much water is used by all of the bottled water plants in California...

That information, when collected piecemeal by state or local agencies, often isn't easily accessible to the public. In some cases, the amounts of water used are considered confidential and not publicly released.

Even as Nestle Waters has been submitting required reports on its water use, the Forest Service has not been closely tracking the amounts of water leaving the San Bernardino National Forest and has not assessed the impacts on the environment.

While the Forest Service has allowed Nestle to keep using an expired permit for nearly three decades, the agency has cracked down on other water users in the national forest...

While Nestle's expired permit hasn't been scrutinized in nearly three decades, some other water users have been required to cut back. In the mid-2000s, as part of a regional review, the Forest Service went through the permits of hundreds of cabins on land in the national forest and reexamined their use of water from creeks. In Barton Flats, for instance, dozens of cabin owners were told they could no longer draw water from Barton Creek; instead, they would have to use wells or install tanks and truck in water. Cabin owners spent thousands of dollars putting in tanks.

"Some of these people had been using the water with water rights for 80 years... Nestle takes more water from the stream in one day than the total of all of those cabin owners in a year..."

"We made the little people do the right thing," he said, "and we're not making the big people do the right thing..."

"The U.S. government is just giving away our natural resources to an international corporation," Frye said. "I think that's really wrong."

Think it might have something to do with the millions of dollars that Nestle spends lobbying? Or the fact that 16 out of 25 Nestle lobbyist have previously held government jobs?

Anyone else notice that neither the money nor the water stops when the president, or the president's party changes?

Anyway, does anyone else think that this is oblique?

Or, is this business as usual?

After all, if the 'little people' spent millions of dollars lobbying, they could have water too...

Uno

 

[alzan]

Lobbyists need to be severely curtailed, the practice of hiring former congresscritters and other insiders as lobbyists has to be stopped and Nestle needs to be fined and this practice stopped.

There are ways of desailnating ocean water by using the suns rays for use by farmers in CA for irrigation,; I'd be willing to bet it could be changed/modified to make potable water for either landowners in the area or by Nestle.

 

[Subyman]

Not only are the sucking water from beautiful natural areas, they are putting it in millions of plastic bottles that end up in the ocean. California, eco-authoritarians, unless you are a billion dollar company..

 

[cabri]

Lobbyists need to be severely curtailed, the practice of hiring former congresscritters and other insiders as lobbyists has to be stopped and Nestle needs to be fined and this practice stopped.

There are ways of desailnating ocean water by using the suns rays for use by farmers in CA for irrigation,; I'd be willing to bet it could be changed/modified to make potable water for either landowners in the area or by Nestle.

Any drinking water coming from salt water will be badly looked on by the consumer

 

[NutBucket]

Where did you get that idea?

In Orange county they pump treated waste water back into the ground and then extract it for use a potable water. Public outrage not found.

 

[trenchfoot]

The very tip of a huge and thoroughly corrupted iceberg.

Dems like the jobs Nestle provide and Repubs like the increased corporate profits they get out of scamming the public trust.

Nestle playing the system just like all the other big big businesses do.

More deregulating and getting rid of watchdog agencies is needed to cure this problem. /s

 

[NutBucket]

I am against bottled water regardless since it's so wasteful. Or maybe it's because I missed out on the gravy train LOL.

 

[Subyman]

I am against bottled water regardless since it's so wasteful. Or maybe it's because I missed out on the gravy train LOL.

Missed out on creating my own pumping, bottling, and world-wide distribution company?

 

[rudder]

Any drinking water coming from salt water will be badly looked on by the consumer

The consumer does not seem to mind that a lot of bottled water comes from municipal water supplies.

 

[cabri]

The consumer does not seem to mind that a lot of bottled water comes from municipal water supplies.

Most are blinded to the reality due to the advertising.

No one wants to drink sea water - the mental association of bottled water that one pays for with sea/salt water ...

 

[NutBucket]

Reverse osmosis filtering....hmmm, the same tech used to filter municipal water to "make" bottled water.

 

[cabri]

Reverse osmosis filtering....hmmm, the same tech used to filter municipal water to "make" bottled water.

It is the perception; not the reality that will drive products.


Just like being told that one can drink your urine when thirsty.
A few can do it; most will not unless desperate and do not see the process.

 

[inachu]

Any drinking water coming from salt water will be badly looked on by the consumer

The good thing about technology is that even Israel has developed filters to make ocean water safe and pure to drink.

California knows the end is coming soon for fresh water and they also have the israeli tech is south west california.

It is an emergency right now and they are still ramping up for better filters and such.

This tech takes a while to perfect.

 

[NutBucket]

Bullshit. The only things stopping desalination are politics and NIMBYs.

 

[hal2kilo]

Reverse osmosis filtering....hmmm, the same tech used to filter municipal water to "make" bottled water.

Sold by the millions at Costco.

 

[unokitty]

Nestle defends using tens of millions of gallons of water:

"The fact is, the use of water for bottling in California is the most efficient use of water among packaged beverages...," Tim Brown, the chief executive of Nestle Waters North America, wrote in a letter in the Desert Sun. "Our water use in the San Bernardino National Forest is the daily equivalent of one-fifth the water used to water a single golf course in Palm Springs."

Still, those golf courses are also hot topics given the state's dire drought, which has prompted Gov. Jerry Brown and other lawmakers to propose a $1 billion plan to provide emergency assistance and protect wildlife. Against that backdrop. any questions about proper water usage is likely to get a Californian's dander up.

While the bottled water companies may be using a small fraction of the water tapped by agriculture, it still raises issues of how it impacts local environments and whether Nestle is getting an unfair break. While it continues to pipe water out of San Bernardino National Forest, Californians are under a host of water restrictions...

NASA scientist: California has one year of water left

California Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing a $1 billion emergency relief plan to deal with California’s water shortage caused by four years of drought conditions.

This comes just as new predictions about the state’s water supply are painting a dire picture. In an op-ed published in the LA Times last week, Jay Famiglietti, a senior water scientist at NASA, predicted the state is nearing the bottom of its water storage.

“We have a year of surface water. After that, we’ll rely more heavily on underground water,” Famiglietti told José Díaz-Balart on msnbc Thursday...

Privatized profits...

Proposed billion dollar taxpayer financed relief plan...

Nestle's defense? They use less than the golf courses...

Amazing what a few million dollars of lobbying can buy...

Uno

 

[realibrad]

Want to fix the water shortage problem? Prices...

Many people do know this, but most in CA do not pay for units of water consumed by the individual. The incentive is that you can use more water, and it does not really cost you more.

 

[schmuckley]

2 12" wells going straight to Nestle..who is selling you water.
Ha! I make a point to never buy Nestle water.
They suck whole village water tables up and leave.
They'll do it to CA too.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

There are ways of desalinating ocean water by using the suns rays for use by farmers in CA for irrigation,; I'd be willing to bet it could be changed/modified to make potable water for either landowners in the area or by Nestle.

At this point this technique only works with brackish water and not high salt content ocean water.

Bullshit. The only things stopping desalination are politics and NIMBYs.

That and the electrical power required to run desalination plants.

 

[OverVolt]

Bottled water comes from California in the midst of a drought?

Hahahahahahahaha.

 

[schmuckley]

Bottled water comes from California in the midst of a drought?

Hahahahahahahaha.

Don't worry,they'll jack the prices on bottled water to help "conserve".

 

[DucatiMonster696]

Want to fix the water shortage problem? Prices...

Many people do know this, but most in CA do not pay for units of water consumed by the individual. The incentive is that you can use more water, and it does not really cost you more.

Basically farms in California pay a heavily subsidized price for water which in turn has incentivized many farms in the state to grow water heavy crops. Which is why the farming industry in the state consumes 80% of all water usage in the state. On the other hand urban and suburban dwellers and other industries round out the 20% of water usage in the state.

 

[DucatiMonster696]

Bullshit. The only things stopping desalination are politics and NIMBYs.

Hey we're spending BILLIONS on a "high" speed rail system. That takes priority over everything else because Democrats in California love their "MONORAIL!!"

public works projects even as you explain to them that this is a waste of money considering other pressing issues in the state.

Then again maybe it'll turn out more awesome then the current fiasco that is the Bay Bridge span (not the entire bridge mind you) construction with its costly issues after construction and installation.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Another-problem-for-new-Bay-Bridge-span-Elevator-6060252.php

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Nearly-all-Bay-Bridge-tower-rods-sitting-in-water-5792535.php

 

[realibrad]

Basically farms in California pay a heavily subsidized price for water which in turn has incentivized many farms in the state to grow water heavy crops. Which is why the farming industry in the state consumes 80% of all water usage in the state. On the other hand urban and suburban dwellers and other industries round out the 20% of water usage in the state.

Yep. It means that crops that normally would not have been cost effective to sell are made because water is so cheep that they can. So until water costs are paid by those using the water, you will continue to run out.

 

[DrPizza]

People who think this (Nestle's bottled water) is a big deal are people who are not very good with number sense/math. It's really just a drop in the bucket compared to other water uses. (Pun intended.)