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Environmentalists urge California wildlife officials to investigate bottled water operation

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Sunday, May 26, 2024

Environmental activists have opened a new front in their long-running fight against a company that pipes water from the San Bernardino Mountains and bottles it for sale as Arrowhead brand bottled water.In a petition to the state, several environmental groups and local activists called for an investigation by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, arguing that the company BlueTriton Brands is harming wildlife habitat and species by extracting water that would otherwise flow in Strawberry Creek.Those who oppose the taking of water from San Bernardino National Forest want the state agency to assess the environmental effects and uphold protections under state law, said Rachel Doughty, a lawyer for the environmental nonprofit Story of Stuff Project.“They’ve dewatered the creek,” Doughty said.If the company weren’t siphoning water in its network of pipes, she said, Strawberry Creek “would be habitat for endangered species, it would be providing a downstream water supply, it would support fish, and it can’t do any of those things without water.”The coalition of environmental groups and activists said in their May 13 petition that the state agency should demand the company apply for an authorization — called a streambed alteration agreement — for its pipes and other infrastructure, and should examine whether the ongoing diversion of water violates state environmental laws.The groups said the company’s taking of water has “caused the extirpation of native species and the destruction of riparian habitat — clearcut harm to the public trust.” They urged the state to “take all appropriate enforcement action.” Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the environment, health and science. Activists who have been trying to shut down the company’s bottled water pipeline made their appeal to the wildlife agency eight months after the State Water Resources Control Board voted to order the company to halt its “unauthorized diversions” of water from springs in the San Bernardino Mountains.State officials determined the company has been unlawfully diverting water without valid water rights. But BlueTriton Brands sued to challenge that decision in Fresno County Superior Court, arguing the process was rife with problems and that the company is entitled to the water.A spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the agency has received the petition and is evaluating it.BlueTriton Brands responded to the petition in an email.“Responsible and proactive water stewardship is central to everything we do. We’re proud of the work we’ve done and continue to do in Strawberry Canyon, studying, reporting, and managing our operations to help protect the land and natural resources,” the company said. “We will continue to operate in compliance with all state and federal laws.”The company also said it will “partner with people in our communities, governments, policy makers, businesses, and consumers to sustainably protect and shape our shared future.”But Steve Loe, a retired biologist who previously worked for the San Bernardino National Forest, said the state should require the company to stop taking water from the creek and the ecosystem.“The stream has been completely dried up by BlueTriton, and BlueTriton needs to put some water back in the stream to meet state and federal requirements,” Loe said. “Restoring water back to Strawberry Creek will make a huge difference in the watershed for all of the plant and animal species.”Restoring water to the habitat would help endangered bird species such as the southwestern willow flycatcher and least Bell’s vireo, he said, as well as other species including the mountain yellow-legged frog and southern rubber boa.He said a flowing creek could also support the return of native fish species, such as Santa Ana speckled dace.In the petition, Loe and others cited historical records describing the springs and the creek nearly a century ago, including field notes and reports from W.P. Rowe, an engineer who surveyed the watershed starting in 1929.Rowe wrote that Strawberry Creek flowed on the south slope of the San Bernardino Mountains from a “source at a group of springs” and flowed in a canyon filled with “alder, sycamore, dogwood and cedar trees together with ferns and thimble berry bushes.”Loe said the records show that before the water was tapped for bottling, the stream was flowing and supported a thriving riparian habitat, which is now largely dry.“It’s public water,” Loe said. “And the public has a right to push for its protection.”“I want water back in the creek this summer,” he said.In the decision that is being argued in court, the state water board ordered the company to stop taking water for bottling from most of its water-collection tunnels and boreholes in the mountains north of San Bernardino.Records show about 158 acre-feet, or 51 million gallons, flowed through the company’s network of pipes in 2022.The system of 4-inch steel pipes collects water that flows from various sites on the steep mountainside above the creek. The pipeline runs to a roadside tank, and some of the water is hauled away on trucks to be bottled and sold as Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water.Local activists have campaigned for years calling for state and federal authorities to shut down the bottled water pipeline. Controversy over the use of water from the national forest erupted after a 2015 investigation by the Desert Sun revealed that the U.S. Forest Service was allowing Nestlé to continue siphoning water using a permit that listed 1988 as the expiration date.The Forest Service subsequently began a review of Nestlé’s permit, and in 2018 granted a new permit for up to five years. The revelations about Nestlé piping water out of the national forest sparked an outpouring of opposition and prompted several complaints to California regulators questioning the company’s water rights claims, which led to the state’s investigation.BlueTriton Brands took over the bottled water business in 2021 when Nestlé’s North American bottled water division was purchased by private-equity firm One Rock Capital Partners and investment firm Metropoulos & Co.BlueTriton and prior owners of the business have for years had a federal “special-use” permit allowing them to use the pipeline and other water infrastructure in the San Bernardino National Forest.The Forest Service has been charging an annual permit fee, currently $2,500 per year. There has been no fee for using the water.BlueTriton’s 2018 permit expired in August, and the company has submitted an application to renew the permit, which Forest Service officials are reviewing, said Gustavo Bahena, a spokesperson for the San Bernardino National Forest.“Because Blue Triton had a timely request for renewal of the permit, the current permit remains in effect… until the Forest renders a decision on their new request,” Bahena said in an email.Other groups that are petitioning the state include Save Our Forest Assn., Center for Biological Diversity, the local chapter of the Sierra Club, Southern California Native Freshwater Fauna Working Group and the Tri-County Conservation League.Amanda Frye, an activist who has taken a leading role in the campaign, said she thinks the Forest Service is failing to uphold its responsibility to manage public land and resources.“We still have a dry creek,” Frye said.“Something’s got to change,” she said. “We have the right to have these resources protected.” Newsletter Toward a more sustainable California Get Boiling Point, our newsletter exploring climate change, energy and the environment, and become part of the conversation — and the solution. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Activists urge California wildlife officials to crack down on Arrowhead bottled water operations in the San Bernardino Mountains, citing harm to wildlife.

Environmental activists have opened a new front in their long-running fight against a company that pipes water from the San Bernardino Mountains and bottles it for sale as Arrowhead brand bottled water.

In a petition to the state, several environmental groups and local activists called for an investigation by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, arguing that the company BlueTriton Brands is harming wildlife habitat and species by extracting water that would otherwise flow in Strawberry Creek.

Those who oppose the taking of water from San Bernardino National Forest want the state agency to assess the environmental effects and uphold protections under state law, said Rachel Doughty, a lawyer for the environmental nonprofit Story of Stuff Project.

“They’ve dewatered the creek,” Doughty said.

If the company weren’t siphoning water in its network of pipes, she said, Strawberry Creek “would be habitat for endangered species, it would be providing a downstream water supply, it would support fish, and it can’t do any of those things without water.”

The coalition of environmental groups and activists said in their May 13 petition that the state agency should demand the company apply for an authorization — called a streambed alteration agreement — for its pipes and other infrastructure, and should examine whether the ongoing diversion of water violates state environmental laws.

The groups said the company’s taking of water has “caused the extirpation of native species and the destruction of riparian habitat — clearcut harm to the public trust.” They urged the state to “take all appropriate enforcement action.”

Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the environment, health and science.

Activists who have been trying to shut down the company’s bottled water pipeline made their appeal to the wildlife agency eight months after the State Water Resources Control Board voted to order the company to halt its “unauthorized diversions” of water from springs in the San Bernardino Mountains.

State officials determined the company has been unlawfully diverting water without valid water rights. But BlueTriton Brands sued to challenge that decision in Fresno County Superior Court, arguing the process was rife with problems and that the company is entitled to the water.

A spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the agency has received the petition and is evaluating it.

BlueTriton Brands responded to the petition in an email.

“Responsible and proactive water stewardship is central to everything we do. We’re proud of the work we’ve done and continue to do in Strawberry Canyon, studying, reporting, and managing our operations to help protect the land and natural resources,” the company said. “We will continue to operate in compliance with all state and federal laws.”

The company also said it will “partner with people in our communities, governments, policy makers, businesses, and consumers to sustainably protect and shape our shared future.”

But Steve Loe, a retired biologist who previously worked for the San Bernardino National Forest, said the state should require the company to stop taking water from the creek and the ecosystem.

“The stream has been completely dried up by BlueTriton, and BlueTriton needs to put some water back in the stream to meet state and federal requirements,” Loe said. “Restoring water back to Strawberry Creek will make a huge difference in the watershed for all of the plant and animal species.”

Restoring water to the habitat would help endangered bird species such as the southwestern willow flycatcher and least Bell’s vireo, he said, as well as other species including the mountain yellow-legged frog and southern rubber boa.

He said a flowing creek could also support the return of native fish species, such as Santa Ana speckled dace.

In the petition, Loe and others cited historical records describing the springs and the creek nearly a century ago, including field notes and reports from W.P. Rowe, an engineer who surveyed the watershed starting in 1929.

Rowe wrote that Strawberry Creek flowed on the south slope of the San Bernardino Mountains from a “source at a group of springs” and flowed in a canyon filled with “alder, sycamore, dogwood and cedar trees together with ferns and thimble berry bushes.”

Loe said the records show that before the water was tapped for bottling, the stream was flowing and supported a thriving riparian habitat, which is now largely dry.

“It’s public water,” Loe said. “And the public has a right to push for its protection.”

“I want water back in the creek this summer,” he said.

In the decision that is being argued in court, the state water board ordered the company to stop taking water for bottling from most of its water-collection tunnels and boreholes in the mountains north of San Bernardino.

Records show about 158 acre-feet, or 51 million gallons, flowed through the company’s network of pipes in 2022.

The system of 4-inch steel pipes collects water that flows from various sites on the steep mountainside above the creek.

The pipeline runs to a roadside tank, and some of the water is hauled away on trucks to be bottled and sold as Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water.

Local activists have campaigned for years calling for state and federal authorities to shut down the bottled water pipeline. Controversy over the use of water from the national forest erupted after a 2015 investigation by the Desert Sun revealed that the U.S. Forest Service was allowing Nestlé to continue siphoning water using a permit that listed 1988 as the expiration date.

The Forest Service subsequently began a review of Nestlé’s permit, and in 2018 granted a new permit for up to five years. The revelations about Nestlé piping water out of the national forest sparked an outpouring of opposition and prompted several complaints to California regulators questioning the company’s water rights claims, which led to the state’s investigation.

BlueTriton Brands took over the bottled water business in 2021 when Nestlé’s North American bottled water division was purchased by private-equity firm One Rock Capital Partners and investment firm Metropoulos & Co.

BlueTriton and prior owners of the business have for years had a federal “special-use” permit allowing them to use the pipeline and other water infrastructure in the San Bernardino National Forest.

The Forest Service has been charging an annual permit fee, currently $2,500 per year. There has been no fee for using the water.

BlueTriton’s 2018 permit expired in August, and the company has submitted an application to renew the permit, which Forest Service officials are reviewing, said Gustavo Bahena, a spokesperson for the San Bernardino National Forest.

“Because Blue Triton had a timely request for renewal of the permit, the current permit remains in effect… until the Forest renders a decision on their new request,” Bahena said in an email.

Other groups that are petitioning the state include Save Our Forest Assn., Center for Biological Diversity, the local chapter of the Sierra Club, Southern California Native Freshwater Fauna Working Group and the Tri-County Conservation League.

Amanda Frye, an activist who has taken a leading role in the campaign, said she thinks the Forest Service is failing to uphold its responsibility to manage public land and resources.

“We still have a dry creek,” Frye said.

“Something’s got to change,” she said. “We have the right to have these resources protected.”

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Drinking water contaminated with Pfas probably increases risk of infant mortality, study finds

Study of 11,000 births in New Hampshire shows residents’ reproductive outcomes near contaminated sitesDrinking water contaminated with Pfas chemicals probably increases the risk of infant mortality and other harm to newborns, a new peer-reviewed study of 11,000 births in New Hampshire finds.The first-of-its-kind University of Arizona research found drinking well water down gradient from a Pfas-contaminated site was tied to an increase in infant mortality of 191%, pre-term birth of 20%, and low-weight birth of 43%. Continue reading...

Drinking water contaminated with Pfas chemicals probably increases the risk of infant mortality and other harm to newborns, a new peer-reviewed study of 11,000 births in New Hampshire finds.The first-of-its-kind University of Arizona research found drinking well water down gradient from a Pfas-contaminated site was tied to an increase in infant mortality of 191%, pre-term birth of 20%, and low-weight birth of 43%.It was also tied to an increase in extremely premature birth and extremely low-weight birth by 168% and 180%, respectively.The findings caught authors by surprise, said Derek Lemoine, a study co-author and economics professor at the University of Arizona who focuses on environmental policymaking and pricing climate risks.“I don’t know if we expected to find effects this big and this detectable, especially given that there isn’t that much infant mortality, and there aren’t that many extremely low weight or pre-term births,” Lemoine said. “But it was there in the data.”The study also weighed the cost of societal harms in drinking contaminated water against up-front cleanup costs, and found it to be much cheaper to address Pfas water pollution.Extrapolating the findings to the entire US population, the authors estimate a nearly $8bn negative annual economic impact just in increased healthcare costs and lost productivity. The cost of complying with current regulations for removing Pfas in drinking water is estimated at about $3.8bn.“We are trying to put numbers on this and that’s important because when you want to clean up and regulate Pfas, there’s a real cost to it,” Lemoine said.Pfas are a class of at least 16,000 compounds often used to help products resist water, stains and heat. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down and accumulate in the environment, and they are linked to serious health problems such as cancer, kidney disease, liver problems, immune disorders and birth defects.Pfas are widely used across the economy, and industrial sites that utilize them in high volume often pollute groundwater. Military bases and airports are among major sources of Pfas pollution because the chemicals are used in firefighting foam. The federal government estimated that about 95 million people across the country drink contaminated water from public or private wells.Previous research has raised concern about the impact of Pfas exposure on fetuses and newborns.Among those are toxicological studies in which researchers examine the chemicals’ impact on lab animals, but that leaves some question about whether humans experience the same harms, Lemoine said.Other studies are correlative and look at the levels of Pfas in umbilical cord blood or in newborns in relation to levels of disease. 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Meet the weird, wonderful creatures that live in Australia’s desert water holes. They might not be there much longer

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Thirsty work: how the rise of massive datacentres strains Australia’s drinking water supply

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As Australia rides the AI boom with dozens of new investments in datacentres in Sydney and Melbourne, experts are warning about the impact these massive projects will have on already strained water resources.Water demand to service datacentres in Sydney alone is forecast to be larger than the volume of Canberra’s total drinking water within the next decade.In Melbourne the Victorian government has announced a “$5.5m investment to become Australia’s datacentre capital”, but the hyperscale datacentre applications on hand already exceed the water demands of nearly all of the state’s top 30 business customers combined.Technology companies, including Open AI and Atlassian, are pushing for Australia to become a hub for data processing and storage. 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Some centres, such as NextDC, are moving towards liquid-to-chip cooling, which cools the processor or GPU directly instead of using air or water to cool the whole room.NextDC says it has completed an initial smaller deployment of the cooling technology but it has the capacity to scale up for ultra-high-density environments to allow for greater processing power without an associated rise in power consumption because liquid cooling is more efficient. The company says its modelling suggests power usage effectiveness (PUE, a measure of energy efficiency) could go as low as 1.15. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletterThe datacentre industry accounts for its sustainability with two metrics: water usage effectiveness (WUE) and power usage effectiveness (PUE). These measure the amount of water or power used relative to computing work.WUE is measured by annual water use divided by annual IT energy use (kWh). For example, a 100MW datacentre using 3ML a day would have a WUE of 1.25. The closer the number is to 1, the more efficient it is. Several countries mandate minimum standards. Malaysia has recommended a WUE of 1.8, for example.But even efficient facilities can still use large quantities of water and energy, at scale.NextDC’s PUE in the last financial year was 1.44, up from 1.42 the previous year, which the company says “reflects the dynamic nature of customer activity across our fleet and the scaling up of new facilities”.Calls for ban on use of drinking waterSydney Water says its estimates of datacentre water use are being reviewed regularly. The utility is exploring climate-resilient and alternative water sources such as recycled water and stormwater harvesting to prepare for future demand.“All proposed datacentre connections are individually assessed to confirm there is sufficient local network capacity and operators may be required to fund upgrades if additional servicing is needed,” a Sydney Water spokesperson says.In its submission to the Victorian pricing review for 2026 to 2031, Melbourne Water noted that hyperscale datacentre operators that have put in applications for connections have “projected instantaneous or annual demands exceeding nearly all top 30 non-residential customers in Melbourne”.“We have not accounted for this in our demand forecasts or expenditure planning,” Melbourne Water said.It has sought upfront capital contributions from the companies so the financial burden of works required “does not fall on the broader customer base”.Greater Western Water in Victoria had 19 datacentre applications on hand, according to documents obtained by the ABC, and provided to the Guardian.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Clear Air AustraliaAdam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisisPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionThe Concerned Waterways Alliance, a network of Victorian community and environment groups, has flagged its concerns about the diversion of large volumes of drinking water to cool servers, when many of the state’s water resources are already stretched.Cameron Steele, a spokesperson for the alliance, says datacentre growth could increase Melbourne’s reliance on desalinated water and reduce water available for environmental flows, with the associated costs borne by the community. The groups have called for a ban on the use of drinking water for cooling, and mandatory public reporting of water use for all centres.“We would strongly advocate for the use of recycled water for datacentres rather than potable drinking water.”Closed-loop coolingIn hotter climates, such as large parts of Australia during the summer months, centres require more energy or water to keep cool.Danielle Francis, manager of customer and policy at the Water Services Association of Australia, says there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach for how much energy and water datacentres use because it will depend on the local constraints such as land, noise restrictions and availability of water.“We’re always balancing all the different customers, and that’s the need for residential areas and also non-residential customers, as well as of course environmental needs,” Francis says.“It is true that there are quite a lot of datacentre applications. And the cumulative impact is what we have to plan for … We have to obviously look at what the community impact of that is going to be.“And sometimes they do like to cluster near each other and be in a similar location.”One centre under construction in Sydney’s Marsden Park is a 504MW datacentre spanning 20 hectares, with six four-storey buildings. The CDC centre will become the largest data campus in the southern hemisphere, the company has boasted.In the last financial year, CDC used 95.8% renewable electricity in its operational datacentres, and the company boasts a PUE of 1.38 and a WUE of 0.01. A spokesperson for the company says it has been able to achieve this through a closed-loop cooling system that eliminates ongoing water draw, rather than relying on the traditional evaporative cooling systems.“The closed-loop systems at CDC are filled once at the beginning of their life and operate without ongoing water draw, evaporation or waste, ensuring we are preserving water while still maintaining thermal performance,” a spokesperson says.“It’s a model designed for Australia, a country shaped by drought and water stress, and built for long-term sustainability and sets an industry standard.”Planning documents for the centre reveal that, despite CDC’s efforts, there remains some community concern over the project.In a June letter, the acting chief executive of the western health district of New South Wales, Peter Rophail, said the development was too close to vulnerable communities, and the unprecedented scale of the development was untested and represented an unsuitable risk to western Sydney communities.“The proposal does not provide any assurance that the operation can sufficiently adjust or mitigate environmental exposures during extreme heat weather events so as not to pose an unreasonable risk to human health,” Rophail said.

Water
Climate
Crisis

Costa Rica’s La Fortuna Waterfall Ranks in Top 1% Globally on TripAdvisor

La Fortuna Waterfall in Costa Rica received TripAdvisor’s “Best of the Best” award for the second straight year in the Travellers’ Choice 2025 rankings. This honor places the site among the top 1% of attractions globally, based on millions of traveler reviews and ratings. The waterfall, a key draw in the Arenal Volcano National Park […] The post Costa Rica’s La Fortuna Waterfall Ranks in Top 1% Globally on TripAdvisor appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

La Fortuna Waterfall in Costa Rica received TripAdvisor’s “Best of the Best” award for the second straight year in the Travellers’ Choice 2025 rankings. This honor places the site among the top 1% of attractions globally, based on millions of traveler reviews and ratings. The waterfall, a key draw in the Arenal Volcano National Park area, attracted roughly 1,000 visitors daily in 2024. The waterfall is about 4 kilometers from the center of La Fortuna in San Carlos, the 70-meter cascade requires a descent of about 530 steps to reach its base. The path includes safety rails, rest spots, and water stations amid native forest trees. At the site, travelers find a restaurant, gift shops, restrooms, and other services. Admission costs $10 for Costa Rican nationals and $20 for international visitors, with reduced rates for those with disabilities. A non-profit group, the Integral Development Association of La Fortuna (ADIFORT), oversees the site. Founded in 1969, ADIFORT directs revenue toward road improvements, environmental care, education, sports, cultural programs, town upkeep, and safety measures. This model ties tourism directly to local progress. The area forms part of a 210-acre biological reserve in premontane tropical wet forest, at 520 meters above sea level. It marks the headwaters of the La Fortuna River. Along the trail, visitors pass an orchid path, butterfly garden, frog habitat, and bee hotel, adding to the natural appeal. Travelers like to visit the waterfall for its clear waters and the chance to swim at the base, though heavy rains can limit access during the rainy season. Reviews highlight the well-maintained facilities and the rewarding hike, despite the steep return climb. The award reflects consistent high marks for the experience, solidifying our country’s reputation in ecotourism. Officials note that sustainable management keeps the site pristine while benefiting residents. As visitor numbers grow, the focus remains on balancing tourism with conservation. This latest win shows the waterfall’s role in showcasing not only Costa Rica’s biodiversity but also our community-driven initiatives. The post Costa Rica’s La Fortuna Waterfall Ranks in Top 1% Globally on TripAdvisor appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Water
Conservation
Forests

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Dance
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Water
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