If there was any doubt remaining that we're living in a New Gilded Age... It's basically giving away public resources for next to nothing.
I believe the final snowpack report for CA 2018 was about 50% of historical averages. So expect a dry summer unless your name is Nestlé Arrowhead.
Hereditary Water rights is a thing
Nestlé has 60 days to sign and accept a three-year permit to draw water from the San Bernardino National Forest for its lucrative bottled water business.
On Tuesday, June 26, less than a month after Nestlé’s 30-year-old permit was terminated in a settlement between the company and three conservation groups, the U.S. Forest Service offered the bottled water giant a new permit for occupancy and use of the national forest land within the Strawberry Creek watershed.
“Nestlé Waters North America appreciates the time and effort the U.S. Forest Service dedicated to this decision regarding the permit renewal process at Arrowhead Springs,” Nestlé Waters spokeswoman Alix Dunn said in a statement. “We will carefully review the specifics of the decision, and will continue to comply with all permit requirements.”
Under its 1978 permit, for which it paid $524 a year to maintain, Nestlé reportedly drew up to 162 million gallons of water per year from Strawberry Creek, the Center for Biological Diversity contends. Nestlé reported drawing 36 million gallons in 2015, or 29 percent less than the annual average over the last 10 years.