Nestlé is after another Canadian town's water.
Nestlé conditionally purchased a water bottling facility in Ontario that can draw 1,300 litres of water a minute from a well so deep it punctures the bedrock. Residents are rightly worried -- an environmental science professor is calling it "the stupidest, short-sighted, most criminal use of water" he's ever seen.
We already scored a major victory against Nestlé in BC this summer -- let's make sure Elora, Ontario isn't next.
Tell the Ontario Government to ban corporate water permits until the township can produce a water plan.
The residents of Elora will need this water. The town currently uses 1.7 million litres of water a day -- and Nestlé will take 1.6 million litres a day under this plan.
The sheer scope and size of the well means that there is no telling what the stress of that much water will do to the watershed. There is a risk that increased suction will draw contaminants—like chicken fat from a former chicken farm—into the drinking water supply.
Many parts Canada are under severe restrictions to conserve water, facing droughts, and fires this summer. And we will very likely continue to face more extreme weather for years to come. The situation is no better across the globe -- a NASA report released this summers says that 21 of the world's 37 biggest sources of drinking water are on the verge of disappearing.
The last thing we should be doing is handing over control of our most precious resource to corporations for peanuts.
This is why, from Pakistan to California to Oregon to right here in Canada, we are going to make sure Nestle can't walk away with our water. 225,000 SumOfUs members scored a major victory last month when we forced the BC government to review whether corporations like Nestlé should be able to bottle our water for pennies. And that's just the beginning of us taking back corporate control of our most precious resource in BC. Next -- we are pressuring the Ontario government to make sure Nestlé doesn't commodify our water.
Call on Ontario to get Nestlé's hands off its water supply until the region develops a comprehensive water plan.
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More information:
Elora residents worried over Nestlé well water, Hamilton Spectator, Aug 7, 2015
Friends of Elora Water makes waves about Nestlé water taking proposal, Wellington Adviser, May 29, 2015