Bottled Water Is Sucking Florida Dry (NYT)

[dalton99a]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/15/opinion/bottled-water-is-sucking-florida-dry.html

Bottled Water Is Sucking Florida Dry
The state’s aquifers are shrinking, yet corporations want to appropriate even more of them.
By Michael Sainato and Chelsea Skojec
Sept. 15, 2019

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida has the largest concentration of freshwater springs in the world, but they are being devastated by increasing pollution and drastic declines in water flow. Some springs have dried up from overextraction; others have shown signs of saltwater intrusion and harmful algae blooms.

At least 60 springs discharge from the Floridan aquifer into the Santa Fe River, which runs 75 miles through north-central Florida. This aquifer is the primary source of drinking water in the state. The state and local governments have continued to issue water bottling extraction permits that prevent the aquifer from recharging.

The answer to this problem is simple: No more extraction permits should be granted, and existing permits should be reduced with the goal of eliminating bottled water production entirely in Florida. At the very least, corporations should be taxed for the water they now extract free of charge. That revenue can be used to pay for water infrastructure projects.

In the next few months, Nestlé is set to renew its permit at Ginnie Springs, one of the most popular recreational attractions along the Santa Fe River. The permit allows Nestlé to take one million gallons per day at no cost, with just a one-time $115 application fee.

“When the bottling companies come in, they’re taking the water away and we get no benefit,” said Michael Roth, president of Our Santa Fe River, an environmental nonprofit.

While other large water bottling companies purchase water directly from municipal water sources in Florida, Nestlé, the largest bottled water company in the world with 48 brands in its portfolio, takes water directly from the source. Nestlé’s free water extraction has incited community pushback in San Bernardino, Calif., where the company gets water for its Arrowhead brand from a national forest struggling with significant drought, and in Osceola County, Mich., where residents are fighting against the company in court to prevent surges in water extraction from local resources.

[sakabatou]

1. It's sucking everywhere dry

[Marie Marie]

2. These companies steal the natural resource (water) from us then

package it in a toxic container, sell it back to us and once we are done with it, we have litter that ends up in our oceans and other waterways, where it continues to pollute and harm or kill wildlife.

In my area, we have 3 giant bottling facilities: Perrier, Nestle and Ocean Spray. Fortunately, we have not had drought conditions and get plenty of rain but that could change at any time.

[TheBlackAdder]

3. What they've found was with the strawberry fields, sea water replaces the spring water's void.

[roamer65]

4. I'd love to see Nestle kicked out of Michigan.

We should stop all export of Great Lakes water. ALL of it.

As the supplies dwindle, we will also have to consider restricting immigration to the Great Lakes basin.

[Sinistrous]

5. Neither are they doing Maine any favors.

[roamer65]

6. I believe it.

[Wounded Bear]

7. Isn't water extraction a major contributor to the sinkhole problem?