Nestle bottling permit under review

For months, critics of Nestle’s bottling permit have called for an environmental review of the company’s water usage. Each year, Nestle pays a $524 annual permit to pump water out of the San Bernardino National Forest, despite the California drought.

Because of the severe drought conditions, environmentalists have argued Nestle should put an immediate halt to their bottling efforts. These activists want to know the implications of pumping large amounts of water from public lands during times of drought.

Under the National Emergency Policy Act (NEPA), the Forest Service will begin to conduct a study of the effects on streams and wildlife in the San Bernardino National Forest in a month or two. The Forest Service will accept public comments through the end of the year as part of the NEPA process.

According to reports by Nestle, the company bottled almost 25 million gallons of water from Arrowhead Springs; on average, they were bottling 68,000 gallons a day.

For decades, Nestle has collected data on the amount of water the company collects from the Arrowhead Springs. Based on those reports, the amount of water flowing through the pipeline has varied, primarily due to the California drought.

“The spring water from the Arrowhead Springs flows naturally into the pipeline, and the amount of flow dictates the amount of water that enters the collection system. Flow will vary based on local precipitation in the recharge area and is unrelated to the amount of water bottled,” Jane Lazgin, Nestle’s director of media and corporate relations, told The Desert Sun. “In any decade, we experience periods of higher and lower flows.”

Although Nestle believes they hold senior water rights privileges, the U.S. Forest Service doesn’t have to recognize those rights. Because the land that’s being used is a national forest, the Forest Service can decide how those resources are being utilized. The federal government’s decision trumps state rights.

“The State Water Board does not have authority to affirm rights of access to property, so only the United States Forest Service can confirm if Arrowhead can continue accessing its government land to divert water,” John O’Hagan, assistant deputy director of the state board’s water rights, told The Desert Sun. “Arrowhead…reports its diversions to a groundwater local oversight agency. The State Water Board’s permitting authority does not apply to diversion of percolating groundwater. Therefore, unless these rights, or any other groundwater right, have been adjudicated by a court, they are considered to be claimed rights.”

Nestle has agreed to pay for the cost of the environmental analysis, a common procedure in the water community.

Although it’s unclear how long the process will take, the Forest Service will release a detailed report of Nestle’s pipes and water infrastructure’s environmental effects.

“The proposed action will be vetted through the public scoping process,” said Keith Riggs, spokesman for the Forest Service. “The results of the scoping process will inform the Forest Service’s decision on the type, scope and scale of environmental analysis.”

The company says it’s working to get their permit up-to-date. It expired in 1988.