Oversight of bottled water firms lacking
By Ian James, Desert Sun
Some lawmakers are raising questions about the impacts of bottled water companies on water supplies in California after a Desert Sun investigation found little government oversight of the amounts of water being tapped or the effects on the environment.
Despite the drought, no state agency has been tracking exactly how much water is used by industries such as the state’s 108 bottled water plants. The Desert Sun also found that the U.S. Forest Service has been allowing Nestle Waters North America to keep using a pipeline to transport spring water out of the San Bernardino National Forest even though its permit expired in 1988.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said the Desert Sun’s report raised important issues that should be addressed.
Thank goodness the Forest Service stopped the cabin owners from getting water from a stream.(joking) Meanwhile Nestle is pumping springs dry- bottling water owned by the public, all without a permit for years- for $500.00 a year!!! And the backlog of expired permits for water is 360. The pattern of incompetence and under performance in every level of gov’t is consistent but still astounding.
By all means shut down an industry that uses water for drinking. But don’t you dare limit the water for golf courses, hunting clubs, water parks, etc, etc.
If you really want to educate yourself on water conservation read what the percentages of water that goes to agriculture. Drinking water is a given, first necessity and agriculture a second but the amount of water water especially in the southern San joquin valley is something to be recond with.
80 percent of California water goes to agriculture, 20 percent for people, industry and government! Guess what the almond agriculture nut uses a whopping ten percent of the agriculture cut. I love the little raw nut as a source of protein but jeez we put a man on the moon a computer in your hand and we can’t grow a nut without creating Noah’s great flood around it! Get smart and stay wet.
Isee, your argument about giving a commercial (corporate)business access to a public resource without paying for it is the exact same argument about nevada welfare rancher clive bundy who refuses to pay for the public resource he is using (and destroying) by having his cattle graze on public lands (owned by you and me but managed by the federal government) and refusing to pay for the resource. It is definately wrong and both enterprises should be stopped immediatly. Id love to see mr. Bundy rot in prison for his abusive actions. IMHO