A powerful battle is brewing at the foot of northern California’s scenic Mt. Shasta, in the tiny town of McCloud. The issue? Bottled water. Many in the town believe that the huge Nestle company is stealing their water by signing a contract to erect a massive bottled water plant in McCloud. Others believe that there is plenty of water to go around and signing a contract that will permit Nestle to tap into McCloud’s large aquifer is simply good business. Correspondent Craig Miller reports.
Update November 30, 2006
The county’s impact report did come out in July 2006. It concluded that the water bottling plant won’t hurt the environment. The McCloud Watershed Council disagreed with the report saying it lacked important evidence and has inadequate data.
Proponents:
Opposition:
Other resources:
- Thirst, film from PBS POV series
- Water Privatization’s Benefits and Pitfalls, Pacific Institute
- “Who Owns Water?”, The Nation
- “Will another CA river slake economic thirsts?” — A blog post by Associate Producer Hal MacDermot in California Connected’s Newsroom.
July 1st, 2006 at 10:10 am
Thanks for your informative documentary from the front lines of the Water Wars. The facts of the situation in McCloud speak for themselves: A large multi-national company manipulated the local poiticians in order to secure a highly one sided contract that benefits only themselves. The community of Mccloud will see no benefits from this project. The only benefit touted by the proponents is jobs. so far the only jobs created by this project are for secuity guards who make only $7.75 / hr. Hardly a living wage.
California should act quickly to protect what, under California Water Law, is a public resource belonging to ALL of the people of California from the Water Mining Industries greedy claws. The alternative is to wake up one day to find that access to water resources has fallen under the control of profit driven corporate boards whose only connection to our communities is through their own bottom lines.
March 18th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Nestle’s McCloud plant is a hummer. Not only would it provide few jobs, but the cash benefit to McCloud will remain the same for the entire 99 year contract — an annual fee in the area of $300,000.
For that pittance, Nestle will run several hundred trucks a day through the tiny town (and bear no responsibility for the demolition of the roads or other infrastructure).
In addition, in times of drought, Nestle’s plant would retain priority over McCloud’s own town water supply.
Finally, Nestle contends that withdrawing 520 million gallons of water every year from the McCloud River watershed won’t harm fisheries or riparian habitat, yet most disagree.
March 19th, 2007 at 8:31 am
I want to thank the members of the McCloud Watershed Council for their continuing effort to bring this disastrous proposal to the forefront of our little town’s attention. I also want to encourage those sill interested to continue learning about the proposal and stay informed about the project. Whether you are for the bottling plant or against the project the important thing is that you are informed and armed with the necessary tools to support your opinion. This battle is not over, and as a supporter of the McCloud Watershed Council it is important that I follow this to the end and take every action that I can as a concerned native of the area to prevent the wanton and willful destruction of my hometown’s peaceful state.
April 6th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
I am confused. The McCloud situation and the mention of Southern California made me think of the immense need for water sources for L.A., Orange and S.Diego counties. Californians from these counties have been accused for years of ripping off the Owens Valley,the Colorado River and Imperial Valley of their water resources.This always bothered me because I thought we were all Californians!?! Now I sense some resentment from other fellow Californians up north that those conniving Southern Californians are up to their old tricks,again attempting to rip off water resources that do not belong to them. Your presentation mentions the abundance of surplus water in McCloud. Why can’t that surplus be shared with all Californians? Thank you
May 3rd, 2007 at 6:30 am
I want to address the Water War in McCloud. I grew up in McCloud. My Father, Uncles, Friends parents all worked in the Logging Industry. The Unemployment rate was very low. This was a great town to grow up in,there were no strangers in our town. Then the people from Southern California came and the fight against our Livley Hood began. This was to save the Trees and enviroment, because we were raping the land. The land that we took care of and planted new trees that had proveded for our families for many generations. The products that we produced provided the toilet paper, books, homes that they purchased and heated with our trees. Then when the Woods and Mills shut down, all of us who were now starting our own familys had to move away, because Northern California had no industry. The biggest employer was and is Mercy Hospital. I do believe that the amount of water that they a proposing is in excess. Our rivers and lakes need to flow without impact from Nestle. I would like to see a proposal regarding drought impact to the town and the Lakes and Rivers. We all need to have an open mind and not close the community to industrial development. I know many people have purchased homes in the Northern California area as there retirement homes. Remember this area was once a thriving community with children riding bikes and playing in the streets. It is very sad to go home and see a beautiful town with no children, empty park, and the schools closing down because of the lack of young families.
May 3rd, 2007 at 8:57 am
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May 5th, 2007 at 6:04 am
The residents are correct, Nestle is getting the water too cheap. The town should raise the water rates like they have in other prime water sources in the US, $4-$5 per 1,000 gallons. The town needs to also raise all rates for the residents of McCloud who are probably wasting that valuable resource by using it just to flush toliets and washing cars.
In fact, since the water is so valuable to Nestle and provides a source of income for the county and provides employment, the State should buy the town of McCloud thru eminent domain and make all the residents move out so that this valuable resource is preserved for perpetuity.