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The U.S. Forest Service is seeking input from the public on its proposal to issue a new five-year permit to Nestlé Waters North America for their on-going capture of drinking water in the San Bernardino National Forest.
At issue is a permit issued by the U. S. Forest Service to Nestlé’s predecessor—Arrowhead Puritas Waters, Inc.–in 1978 that expired in 1988. No new permit has been issued since then though both Nestlé and the U.S. Forest Service have stated that the expired permit remains valid until the Forest Service issues a new permit or one is denied.
Nestlé’s web site indicates that, “Our Current Special Use Permit is still in full effect until the new permit is issued, under the terms stated in a letter to us in April, 2015.”
The siphoning of water in Strawberry Canyon by Nestlé for use as bottled water and its expired permit were brought to light by the Desert Sun newspaper, based in Palm Springs, more than a year ago. Soon thereafter, retired Forest Service biologist, Steve Loe, and a fellow retiree were interviewed by the newspaper saying they think it’s wrong that Nestlé’s operation hasn’t been studied by the Forest Service for decades.
“They’re taking way too much water,” said Loe. “”When you take water from the springs that are the source of those waters, you dry up these canyons. And they’re the most important habitats that we have. Without water, you don’t have wildlife, you don’t have vegetation.”
In 2014, Nestlé collected 28-million gallons of water in the San Bernardino Mountains which represents less than ten percent of measured flow per the US Geological Survey monitoring gauge. The gauge is located at the base of Strawberry Canyon and neighboring Twin Creek Canyon. In 2015, Nestlé collected approximately 36-million gallons. Measured precipitation at the Arrowhead Springs in 2015 was 20.2 percent greater that the recorded precipitation in 2014. Both years’ measured precipitation were measured October to October.
The Nestlé web site states that “To ensure our groundwater use is not more than is naturally sustainable we use only water that naturally flows to the surface of our Arrowhead spring site in Strawberry Canyon. We regularly monitor the spring water flows and environmental conditions at this site, which shows that the forest habitat in this canyon and the neighboring canyon are healthy.”
In addition to the expired permit and the questions raised by the Forest Service’s retirees, three environmental groups—the Center for Environmental Diversity, Story of Stuff Project and Courage Campaign Institute–have filed a federal lawsuit against the Forest Service claiming they breached the law by not issuing Nestlé a current permit and that the water removal from Strawberry Creek has threatened sensitive habitats. An April 25 hearing has been scheduled for this matter in Riverside Federal Court with U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal presiding.
Nestle has indicated that it has remained cognizant of the on-going California drought stating that, “…we take water management very seriously in all watersheds where we operate and feel the claims in the lawsuit don’t reflect our responsible stewardship practices within Strawberry Canyon. We are pleased that the Forest Service has begun the process for the renewal of our permit in San Bernardino National Forest. We understand the community’s interest in the permit review process and that they expect it to be fair, transparent, and consistent with both the law and the science.”
The U.S. Forest Service held a public meeting last Thursday evening regarding this matter. Additionally, they are accepting written comments on the matter through May 2. Comments can be accepted in any of the following ways:
Project webpage: http://go.usa.gov/cGyXH
Email: [email protected] (include “Nestle Waters” in the subject line)
U.S. mail to: Front Country Ranger District Office, 1209 Lytle Creek Road, Lytle Creek, CA 92358 (Attn: Nestle Waters)
