Nestle Wants to Own Your Water: Time for Californians to Act

By Brian Stranko

As part of the expansion of its bottled water business worldwide, the Nestle corporation has proposed the largest-ever US water bottling plant for the pristine Mt. Shasta region of California. The proposed 1,000,000 square-foot plant would remove more than 500 million gallons (1,600 acre-feet) of Northern California’s pure, clear water each year—to the tune of 600 trips per day by large tanker trucks. The Nestle proposal also includes a 50 to 100 year water monopoly, and allows for unlimited drilling of bore holes to extract even more water.

The proposed plant would reduce water flows to the region’s rivers that support fishing and tourism, including McCloud River Falls, Squaw Valley Creek, Soda Springs, Big Springs, Muir Springs and Mud Creek, all of which are an integral part of the region’s future economic potential. The lava tube hydrology of McCloud's aquifer makes Nestlé's plan to drill bore holes high risk; such activity could leave the entire community of McCloud with a loss of wells and springs below any such hole.

A recently released economic report analyzes the long-term impact of the proposed plant in McCloud and shows that the facility is unlikely to create a significant net gain of long-term, permanent jobs for residents. The report was prepared by Eugene, Oregon-based ECONorthwest, a firm with 30 years experience specializing in economic and financial analysis of public policy, on behalf of the McCloud Watershed Council.

The report states that the proposed contract between Nestlé and the McCloud Community Services District (MCSD) creates a number of risks for the people of McCloud and Siskiyou County. An analysis of similar plants in other parts of the country shows that such facilities do not appear to be strong engines for local economic growth. The plants do create some jobs, but most of these are production positions with relatively low wages. At the same time, much of what makes a place like McCloud appealing to retirees, tourists, and entrepreneurs is likely to be lost through the location of a bottling plant in the area.

The report shows that Nestle is planning to severely under-compensate local residents for the value of their water. The current contract between the corporation and the MCSD states that Nestle will pay only $26.40 per acre-foot for McCloud’s spring water, while past studies of water transactions have found average lease rates for water in California in 2004 dollars of approximately $80 per acre-foot.

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