(Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun). (Photo: US Forest Service). Yet he added that all around the wells, he hasn’t seen a single natural spring flowing. Originally, the water was transported by rail in glass-lined cars. © 2020 “There’s water in this,” Earney said. Rachel Doughty, one of the lawyers representing the groups, said the FDA agreed to release hundreds of pages of documents and she expects to receive them this week. (Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun), In another document, which also was submitted to the Forest Service, Nestlé laid out its case saying the historical basis of its rights “includes both surface water and subterranean water.”, THE CURRENT: Sign up for The Desert Sun's energy and water newsletter. Activists have urged the Forest Service to crack down, arguing that taking water from the forest harms spring-fed Strawberry Creek and the wildlife that depends on it. Nestlé’s use of water from the national forest has sparked strong opposition and protests during the past two years after a 2015 Desert Sun investigation revealed that the Forest Service has been allowing the company to continue drawing water from the national forest using a permit that lists 1988 as the expiration date. – Disrupted immune system Ozark If you have a refrigerator that can dispense water, you have the option of installing a Da2900020b filter (or other compatible filter). From a ridge atop the mountains, you can look down into a rocky canyon on the creek’s east fork – which is fed by an adjacent watershed where Nestlé has no wells – and see a serpentine ribbon of water running through the creek channel. Arrowhead bottled water is sourced from carefully selected mountain springs in California, Colorado and Western Canada. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. – Crystal Spring Natural Spring Water Nestlé Waters North America is the largest seller of bottled water in the country, with $4.5 billion in sales last year. I have done this for years. Filling up re-usable stainless-steel water bottles or re-using glass bottles is the best way to go, for both your health, and the environment. “Just think how pretty that would be if the water was flowing,” she said. ), The Ultimate Fruit-Infused Detox Water To Drink Instead of Soda, How to Fix Your Squat to Make Life Easier, 15 Health Benefits of Oregano Oil and How to Use It, 10 Uses and Benefits of Thyme Essential Oil, 10 Science-Backed Health Benefits of Pumpkin Seeds. “Such action is handled on a case by case basis,” she said. Before you reach for your next bottle of water, take a look at the label first. EWG's drinking water quality report shows results of tests conducted by the water utility and provided to the Environmental Working Group by the California State Water Resources Control Board, as well as information from the U.S. EPA Enforcement and Compliance History database (ECHO). “We only recently became aware that the Forest Service had any questions regarding the labeling of our Strawberry Canyon spring water under FDA’s standard of identity regulations,” Lawrence said. My wife and I buy cases of Arrowhead water and when we drink it we recycle the bottles by filling them with water filtered through our AquaRain 400 water purification system. The company responded to detailed questions about its water rights claims and its water sources, and provided well drilling records and other documents. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. – Genetic damage and cell death Seen from far away, a small amount of water can be seen flowing in the east fork of Strawberry Creek in the San Bernardino National Forest, August 28. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. “And in my opinion, they’re not selling spring water, they’re selling groundwater. Reaching one of them, he squatted down and put his ear to the steel pipe. – Disrupted synthesis of collagen "We’ll have to have the state water resource board rule on that," she said. I have done this for years. (Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun), In the April 19 email, San Bernardino National Forest Supervisor Jody Noiron told other officials in her agency that an FDA counterpart would be “discussing this case w her upper managers.”, “FDA has full discretion on whether or not to followup on non-compliance issues like this, it’s a case by case basis,” Noiron said in the email. Frye, who was following along, looked sadly at the dry boulders below the well. “And you know, why should you have somebody, especially a foreign corporation, come in and steal from America? Fluoride added to most drinking water supplies is not the naturally occurring type, which so many people fail to realize. Contact him at ian.james@desertsun.com or on Twitter: @TDSIanJames. The food and beverage giant Nestlé uses this system, which includes boreholes and tunnels drilled deep into the mountainside, to collect water and pipe it out of the San Bernardino National Forest. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Your email address will not be published. It just goes on every day like this,” Frye said. Some of the pages were partially redacted to remove information deemed to be “trade secrets.”, In a letter on March 11, 2016, Nestlé said water bottling began at Arrowhead Springs in the late 1800s and the company is now the “successor-in-interest to the rights of Arrowhead Springs Corporation and California Consolidated Water Company.”, The company referred to a 1930s lawsuit over the area’s water – in which Del Rosa Mutual Water Company sued to block the taking of water by the other companies – and said under the judgment, Nestlé Waters “has the clear right to capture and use the waters in Strawberry Creek.” It also said “to the extent that any water captured by (Nestlé Waters) could be classified as groundwater,” the specific wording of the judgment “adjudicated the right to develop, capture, and use this water under California state law.”, A network of pipelines carries water down the mountain to Nestle's collection tank on the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest. – Dementia Deborah Kotz, an FDA spokesperson, said the agency cannot comment on or confirm any ongoing investigations.