California Gov. Jerry Brown announced last week, and took a lot of heat, when he announced mandatory water reductions to cope with California's historic drought but exempted agriculture in the state, which uses 80 percent of the available water supply. Brown appeared on the talk show circuit and said that a lot farmers across the state lost state and federal water allocations, sacrificing hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland. Brown added, “some people have more of a right to water than others.". And Brown is right:
In a technical sense, that’s true. Some farmers have “senior water rights,” dating back to the Water Commission Act of 1914, which puts them at the front of the line for allocations. But unlike the individual apartment dweller, farmers aren’t limited to “surface water” found in reservoirs and canals and streams. They can also extract groundwater virtually unimpeded; until last year there were basically no regulations against anyone sticking a drill in the ground and pumping the water under the Earth — which has drained long-term water resources almost dry and contributed to the land actually sinking in some parts of the Central Valley. This safety valve, the ability to go underground, has led to the perpetuation of wasteful irrigation systems and unsustainable plantings. (Enough with the almonds and rice!) And even the aforementioned new rules, which Brown pushed for, are woefully inadequate and in some cases don’t kick in until 2022, thanks to industry lobbying.
As a political matter, saying that some people have more of a right to water than others is a deadly epigram, calling attention to the serious inequality in California, between farmers as well as individuals. People need only to look at the perfectly manicured lawns in Malibu, a city that uses five times as much water as poor neighborhoods in South Los Angeles, to feel the power distribution problem. And farmers paying far less for the water they hog contributes to that perception. Brown’s headed for serious trouble if he punishes residents while taking it easy on an influential industry like agriculture – or worse, oil, which uses millions of gallons a day fracking the state for climate-destroying hydrocarbons, and which is similarly exempt from water restrictions.
If Brown wants to survive what will become a major headache for him, and if California wants to survive/remain habitable for the foreseeable future, these "special rights" and corrupt deals for corporations and BIG Agriculture have got to end. And there is no better example of a corrupt deal for big corporations than the sweetheart deal Nestlé Corporation has in the state, pumping California water in an historic drought and selling it in plastic bottles under the names Arrowhead or Pure Life bottled water. And Nestle gets away with it by doing what other big corporations do - by partnering with Native American tribes to conduct the water raid in sovereign territory:
In particular, Nestlé has a 25-year contract with the Morongo Band of Cahuila Mission Indians to draw water from wells in Millard Canyon, in the desert city of Cabazon. The plant is one of the largest in North America. Morongo, which also has a casino that features entertainment from the likes of REO Speedwagon and Australian male revue “Thunder From Down Under,” no longer provides statistics on how much water Nestlé pumps out of the underground spring. But independent statistics put the total anywhere between 200 and 250 million gallons a year.
This is a small number in the grand scheme of things: the water restrictions announced by Gov. Brown would save 500 billion gallons a year, or 2,000 times as much as what Nestlé pumps out. But Nestlé has at least a dozen such operations statewide, many in severely dry regions. And the fact that they’ve turned exporting groundwater during a drought into a moneymaking enterprise is absurd. The Morongo plant alone produces over 1 billion bottles of water per year, and the parent company, Nestlé Waters North America, earned annual revenues of $4 billion from its 29 facilities in 2012. Plus, pulling water from an oasis magnifies the environmental impact on the desert ecosystem. The water taken out would normally recharge the local underground aquifer or increase flow along a surface stream.
Morongo told the Palm Springs Desert Sun that the water plant creates 250 local jobs, and that they control the resources as part of their sovereign nation. And, given the history of American brutalization of native people, it’s hard to get too agitated about how tribal nations use their own land, which represents a tiny fraction of what they actually deserve. But the water actually belonged to the Cabazon Water District as recently as they early 2000s. They sold it to the Morongo tribe in a quick-cash privatization deal for just $3 million, enabling them to temporarily reduce water rates to customers. Morongo almost immediately struck the agreement with Nestlé, for access to a canyon that gushes 3,000 gallons of water per minute at full strength. Nestlé pays Morongo an undisclosed fee for every gallon they pump.
The state of California tried to revoke a portion of Morongo’s license to use water from Millard Canyon starting in 2003 but the tribe successfully fought that action. But with and historic drought and tougher water restrictions now in place, the debate has popped up again, resurrected by the Courage Campaign, an online progressive group with 900,000 members statewide, which has petitioned the California Water Resources Control Board to stop Nestlé’s bottling operations statewide.
Here is a link to the Courage Campaigns online petition to stop Nestlé from bottling California's water during an historic and game changing drought:
http://act.couragecampaign.orgsign/...
And stop buying Nestle's bottled water, sold as Arrowhead or Pure Life brands.
http://www.salon.com/...