U.S. Forest Service officials on Friday said they 
are making it a priority to examine a long-expired 
permit that Nestle has been using to pipe water 
out of a national forest to use for bottled water.
Nestle Waters North America has long drawn 
water from wells that tap into springs in 
Strawberry Canyon north of San Bernardino. 
The water flows through a pipeline across 
the national forest and is hauled by trucks 
to a plant to be bottled as Arrowhead 100 
percent Mountain Spring Water.

In an investigation last month, The Desert 
Sun found that Nestle's permit to transport 
water across the San Bernardino National 
Forest expired in 1988 and that the Forest 
Service hasn't assessed the impacts of the 
bottled water business on streams in two 
watersheds that sustain sensitive habitats.

"Since this issue was raised and I became 
aware of how long that permit has been 
expired, I have made it a priority to work 
on this reissuance project," San 
Bernardino National Forest Supervisor 
Jody Noiron said in a telephone interview.

Forest Service officials recently announced 
plans to take up the issue and carry out an 
environmental analysis after a group of 
critics raised concerns in emails and 
letters, and after The Desert Sun inquired 
about the expired permit.

"Now that it has been brought to my 
attention that the Nestle permit has 
been expired for so long, on top of
 the drought… it has gone to the top 
of the pile in terms of a program of 
work for our folks to work on," Noiron said.

Under another permit that has been 
expired since 1994, the Cucamonga 
Valley Water District draws water from 
Deer Canyon Springs in the national 
forest. The water agency, in turn, has 
a contract with Nestle and has been 
selling that water for bottling.

Noiron said she also recently learned 
about the water district's expired permit and
 is making it a priority for her staff as well.

"The first time really I was aware of it 
was when it came out of the emails 
and letters," Noiron said. "So that 
one also has gone to the top of the 
pile for us to deal with."

Forest Service officials say they have
 contacted the water district's managers 
to discuss the permit and whether they 
want to renew it. Officials at the water
district weren't available on Friday to
discuss their plans.

The process of renewing such permits 
requires an environmental review under 
the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), which Noiron said can take as 
little as 18 months, or more than two 
years.

Given the severity of the drought, she said, 
officials at the national forest are also 
considering whether to impose some type 
of "interim conditions" while they work 
through the permit renewal process. 
She said it's not yet clear what sorts of 
interim measures might be necessary 
while the Forest Service carries out 
environmental reviews.
Steve Loe, a former Forest Service 
biologist, has led calls for an immediate 
halt to Nestle's use of water from 
Strawberry Canyon and Deer Canyon. 
He has argued that urgent measures 
are needed to protect the flows in stream, 
particularly during the dry summer months, 
until an independent study can be 
carried out.

Nestle insists its bottling of spring water 
from the national forest isn't causing any 
harm. The company, a subsidiary of 
Switzerland-based Nestle SA, is the
 largest producer of bottled water in 
the United States.

Nestle says it monitors the environment 
around the springs where it draws water 
and manages the amounts it uses for 
sustainability. The company has pointed 
out that a stream gauge downstream 
from the springs in Strawberry Canyon 
has continued to record flowing water.

Jane Lazgin, a spokeswoman for 
Nestle Waters, said in an email that 
the company is committed to working 
with Forest Service officials during 
the permit renewal process.

Randy Moore, the Forest Service's 
regional forester in California, said 
the agency doesn't traditionally track 
the amounts of water used by permit
holders such as Nestle.

"This is the state's responsibility to track 
the water use," Moore said. "We're looking 
more at what needs to stay in the system 
and to make it productive, environmentally 
sound."

He said that as the Forest Service carries 
out the environmental review, the agency 
will study the impacts of removing water 
on the natural environment in the national 
forest.

The Forest Service has been dealing with 
a backlog of expired permits. In the 
San Bernardino National Forest, officials 
said their priorities over the years have 
included the aftermath of wildfires and 
floods, as well as permits for power lines, 
oil and gas pipelines, a new rail line 
through Cajon Pass, and a new water 
supply tunnel for the Metropolitan Water 
District.

Noiron, who has been supervisor of the 
national forest for four years, said that 
during her tenure the staff has been 
"pretty bombarded" with other high-priority 
projects.
She said the expired permits for water 
pipelines, including those that carry 
water for Nestle's bottling operation, 
are now higher on the agenda due to 
"the discussion about them lately."

have expressed concern about the expired 
permits and also about the lack of government 
oversight in tracking the amounts of water 
being tapped and the effects on the 
environment.

One group, Courage Campaign, last month 
launched an online petition in response to 
recent news coverage, demanding that
 Nestle stop bottling water in California 
during the drought. The petition, 
which is directed to the State Water 
Resources Control Board, reads: "While 
California is facing record drought conditions, 
it is unconscionable that Nestle would 
continue to bottle the state's precious water, 
export it, and sell it for profit."

Eddie Kurtz, executive director of the 
California-based advocacy group, said
 more than 135,000 people have added 
their names to the petition.

"Every time someone signs the petition, 
it deploys an email to Nestle and also 
to the water board," Kurtz said in a telephone 
interview from Oakland. "At a certain point 
we cap them and then we send a group email 
at the end of the day so that they don't 
mark us as spam."

"It's really one of the most viral petitions
we've done in a long, long time," Kurtz said. 
"It just went bonkers. … Anything around 
water right now is just creating an incredible 
amount of public interest."

Nestle Waters North America responded 
to the petition 
in a statement, emphasizing that its total
 water use in California last year — 
about 705 million gallons — is roughly 
the amount of water it would take to 
irrigate two golf courses.

"While responsible management is 
expected and essential, bottled water 
is such a small user that to focus on 
our industry as a material concern in 
water policy debates is misguided," the 
company said.

"We will continue to monitor and report 
our water use and work with federal, 
state and local regulatory agencies 
and other stakeholders to ensure 
our activities do not significantly 
impact the watersheds in which 
we operate," Nestle said. 
"We support comprehensive, 
transparent and balanced oversight 
for all water users."

Noiron said that in response to 
Gov. Jerry Brown's order for a statewide 
25 percent cut in urban water use, the 
Forest Service plans to work with the 
state "to determine how best to manage
 the impacts of the current drought on 
water uses."

She said that would include imposing 
any measures that fit with the state's 
evolving restrictions.

Moore added that the drought is prompting 
the Forest Service to "sit down with the 
state and look collectively at some options 
for us to consider in light of what's going
 on with the drought."

Noiron said officials have yet to start 
their environmental analysis for the 
expired permit and for now are gathering 
information, including studies that Nestle 
has carried out.

"We will assess what the impacts are of 
their use on the national forest and use 
that information to make the decision on 
whether or not a renewed permit should
 be issued," Noiron said, "and if it is issued, 
what the terms and conditions of that 
permit would be to protect the natural 
resources."

She said when the permit was issued to
 Arrowhead in the 1970s, the current 
environmental laws weren't in place. 
In the process of renewing the permit, 
those new laws now come into play.

"Using science, we have to assess,
what is an adequate flow of water to remain 
in the natural system to protect the natural 
resources and support the watershed?" 
Noiron said. "And then that's what has 
to stay in the system."


Ian James can be reached by email 
on Twitter at @TDSIanJames.