Take action to stop this bottled water company from draining parts of California dry

Take action to stop this bottled water company from draining parts of California dry

A company called BlueTriton, known until recently as Nestlé Waters North America, is draining tens of millions of gallons of water annually from San Bernardino National Forest in California — all to bottle it up and sell it.1

 

Take Action
 

California is in a drought.

Right now more than 97 percent of California is in a drought, compared to just 41 percent of the state at this time last year.2 Water is more precious than ever, so we shouldn’t be draining a national forest just for wasteful plastic water bottles.

We need to take action to tell BlueTriton — formerly Nestlé — to stop draining Strawberry Creek in California’s San Bernardino forest.

BlueTriton is draining a vulnerable ecosystem.

The waterways BlueTriton is draining are a vital part of California’s vulnerable ecosystems — especially as climate change continues to escalate the risk of drought. Wildlife from deer, to foxes and mountain lions, to threatened species like the Alameda whipsnake depend on the region’s watersheds.3

And the company is draining far too much. Last year it drew out about 58 million gallons of water, far more than the 2.3 million gallons per year allowed by its permit.4

Together we can save Strawberry Creek.

We’ve come together to stop wasteful over-pumping of vital waterways before — and we know we can do it again with your help.

Nestlé has a history of planning to drain even more water from springs and rivers that are already taxed by extraction. Years of over-pumping drove the water level at Florida’s beautiful Ginnie Springs dangerously low — but Nestlé then requested a permit to increase the amount of extracted water to more than a million gallons a day, four times the amount that was already damaging the spring.5,6

But then, more than 17,000 supporters of Environmental Action joined forces with nature-lovers nationwide to convince the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD), the body in charge of managing Ginnie Springs, to temporarily halt the waste. At a hearing in August of 2020, SRWMD tabled Nestlé’s permit application and ensured that the Springs would not be pumped, at least for the time being.

From Florida’s Ginnie Springs to California’s Strawberry Creek — we’re committed to protecting precious waterways across the nation.

Take Action

  1. Maanvi Singh, “California orders Nestle to stop siphoning spring water,” High Country News, April 28, 2021.
  2. Jonathan Lloyd, “Map: See Where Drought Conditions Have Expanded in California,” NBC Los Angeles, April 29, 2021.
  3. Maanvi Singh, “California orders Nestle to stop siphoning spring water,” High Country News, April 28, 2021.
  4. Maanvi Singh, “California orders Nestle to stop siphoning spring water,” High Country News, April 28, 2021.
  5. Greg Allen, “The Water Is Already Low At A Florida Freshwater Spring, But Nestle Wants More,” NPR, November 8, 2019.
  6. Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson and Jim Tatum, “Sante Fe River, springs being bled to death,” The Gainesville Sun, August 21, 2019.