Dive Brief:
- As part of the U.S. Forest Service's call for public comments on Nestle's Arrowhead Springs water permit, the agency held an "open house" at the Forest Service office in San Bernardino, CA.
- Environmentalists and community members voiced their concerns about the Forest Service's proposal to allow Nestle to continue pumping water out of the San Bernardino National Forest for bottling.
- Per the proposed permit, Nestle would have to research its operation's impact on area water supplies and habitats. Opponents are concerned that these studies would be funded by the company, though regulators said the agency would vet the researchers and review the results.
Dive Insight:
Forest Service officials, local residents, and representatives of three environmental groups that sued the Forest Service in October attended the Thursday meeting. The comment period ends May 2.
Nestle released a statement in support of the public comment period and the agency's willingness to discuss moving forward with the permit renewal process. Nestle also reiterated in its statement that its permit remains valid until the agency decides whether to renew.
The main controversy is that Nestle is pumping water for bottling out of a state that is in the midst of a multi-year drought. The amount Nestle collected actually increased from 28 million gallons in 2014 to 36 million gallons in 2015. But that increase was due to increased rainfall in the area last year, and the 2015 amount is still 29% lower than the past 10 years' average, Jane Lazgin, director of media and corporate communications for Nestle Waters North America, told The Desert Sun.