Larry,
Food & Water Watch and the McCloud Watershed Council scored a major victory! Nestlé Waters of North America announced it would withdraw its proposal to build a bottling facility in McCloud, California.
There was a long, intense public debate about the bottling plant and its potential impact on water resources in the area–at one point the deal would have allowed Nestlé to pump up to 200 million gallons of water from nearby Mt. Shasta springs.
Food & Water Watch played a big role in the victory. “The McCloud Watershed Council was very pleased to have Food & Water Watch’s support in our campaign to protect our water from Nestlé. Citizens who are concerned about corporate control of our water resources should become members of Food & Water Watch as their support of local organizations as well as their work on state and federal legislation is crucial to protecting our precious water resources for future generations,” said Debra Anderson, president of the McCloud Watershed Council.
This development is in line with the current trend- communties and grassroots groups having success in limiting or preventing the bottling of local water. FWW supporters provided crucial funding to the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation this summer, contributing nearly $8,000 to the group’s successful attempt to limit the amount of waterNestlé could withdraw in a Michigan county.
Though Nestlé was forced to scale back in Michigan and had to retreat in McCloud, the company already has plans for other areas of the country. Food & Water Watch will be there to lend support wherever we’re asked, and the more members we have, the stronger we’ll be.
Though bottled water sales are on the decline for the first time in five years, Nestlé and other corporations have deep pockets, and they won’t give up without a fight in their attempts to control our food and water.
Sincerely,
Wenonah Hauter
Executive Director, Food & Water Watch