California water regulators told Nestlé that the company doesn’t appear to have valid water rights for much of the water it’s been piping out of the San Bernardino National Forest and selling as bottled water.
Regulators at the agency later said they had begun investigating questions about the company’s claim of having water rights dating to the 1800s.
While officials were conducting the investigation, Nestlé had insisted it holds rights that are “among the most senior water rights” in California.
He wrote that Nestlé could claim up to 26 acre-feet of water per year for diversions from Indian Springs.
Vasquez said the Division of Water Rights staff “recommends that Nestlé immediately cease any unauthorized diversions.”.
In its letter, regulators recommended that the the company take a list of actions, including submitting within 30 days an initial statement for “unauthorized diversions” and for diversions under any valid pre-1914 rights.
Buy Photo Nestlé bottles water from the San Bernardino National Forest and other sources at its bottling plan in Ontario, California. »
