Despite the fact that California is running out of water, Nestlé continues to suck San Bernardino National Forest dry on a permit that expired 28 years ago.
But in the next 48 hours we could change that.
Under pressure from grassroots activists in California, along with a petition from 284,000 SumOfUs members, the U.S. Forest Service is finally reviewing Nestle’s application to siphon water from the San Bernardino National Forest.
And until Monday May 2nd, they’re accepting comments from the public. Most Forest Service comment periods receive only a few thousand comments -- so with tens of thousands of us acting together, they won’t be able to ignore us.
Submit an official comment telling the U.S. Forest Service not to renew Nestlé’s permit. And tell them to conduct a thorough environmental review of Nestlé’s impact in the region.
Californians are being asked to cut back on our own water usage for conservation purposes -- and some of us don’t even have reliable access to a clean water supply. Yet Nestlé continues to remove water from the state with little to no oversight, siphoning off nearly 705 million gallons of water per year from California’s water supply.
If the Forest Service renews Nestlé’s San Bernardino permit, it would not just be a catastrophe for California, but for the whole country -- because it creates a precedent that even in times of scarcity, corporations have a right to profit from our most precious shared resources.
Nestlé’s expired water permit hasn’t been scrutinized in almost 3 decades. Its water-bottling source, San Bernardino's Strawberry Creek, is now so narrow it can easily be jumped across. This dangerously low flow is likely putting the surrounding environment and critical species at risk.
The US Forest Service has the power to regulate permits in the time of extreme drought -- and it’s well past time for it to use its power to stand up to Nestlé’s bullying.
Together, we can call on the US Forest Service to do its job and keep our our national resources out of Nestlé’s grasp. It’s time for the Forest Service to show it takes its mandate seriously, and will do what it takes to protect critical watersheds like the San Bernardino National Forest.
Our message is clear: stop Nestlé’s operation in San Bernardino immediately -- and conduct a thorough environmental review of Nestlé’s impact in the region.
Write to the Forest Service to tell it to do its job.
By acting in the next few days, you’ll join a huge and growing movement from across this country protecting our precious fresh water. The SumOfUs community has fought Nestlé across the globe and mobilized hundreds of thousands where it matters most.
We made front-page news in Canada when Nestlé was taking public water for pennies a gallon and forced the government to reconsider its water legislation. After a quarter million of us denounced Nestlé’s water grab in Oregon, Governor Kate Brown announced a public review.
Over 300,000 SumOfUs members have already called for Nestlé to stop drawing water from drought-stricken California. Now we need to ramp up the pressure.
Act now to tell the U.S. Forest Service to shut down Nestlé’s operation in San Bernardino and conduct a comprehensive environmental impact review
More information
The Desert Sun. 15 April 2016.
LA Times. 18 March 2016.
The Desert Sun. 8 March 2015.