Bottling Water in California

Every year, Nestle, the world’s largest food company, pays the San Bernardino national forest $524. That’s the fee Nestle pays for its permit to take tens of million of gallons of water from springs high in the San Bernardino mountains, bottle it, and sell it as Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water. That permit expired in 1988. But the forest service -- depleted by budget cuts -- has not reviewed the company’s expired permit or analyzed the local environmental impact of all the water Nestle has been taking. And in the meantime, Nestle continues to pipe away the water, bottle it, and sell it back to us.