Forest Service orders Arrowhead bottled water to shut down California pipeline
The U.S. Forest Service has ordered BlueTriton Brands to stop water extraction in San Bernardino National Forest due to environmental concerns and potential unlawful diversion, prompting a court challenge from the company.
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The U.S. Forest Service has ordered BlueTriton Brands, the company behind Arrowhead bottled water, to cease operations in the San Bernardino National Forest, effectively shutting down its pipeline and water collection infrastructure. This decision follows a lengthy battle over the commercial extraction of water from public lands, with the Forest Service denying BlueTriton's application for a new permit. Environmental activists have welcomed the ruling, citing concerns over the environmental impact of the company's water extraction, which they argue has significantly reduced creek flow and harmed local ecosystems. BlueTriton has challenged the decision in court, claiming it lacks legal merit and asserting that its operations do not harm the environment. The Forest Service's letter indicated that the company had failed to provide necessary information regarding its water use and that a large portion of the water diverted was not being bottled but instead delivered to an old hotel property. The company has been operating under a series of permits for nearly a century, but recent investigations revealed that it may have been unlawfully diverting water without valid rights. The Forest Service's decision is final and requires BlueTriton to submit a plan for removing its infrastructure from federal land.
- U.S. Forest Service orders BlueTriton to cease water extraction in San Bernardino National Forest.
- Environmental activists celebrate the decision, citing ecological concerns.
- BlueTriton challenges the ruling in court, claiming it is legally unfounded.
- Investigations revealed potential unlawful water diversion by the company.
- The decision marks a significant shift in the management of water resources from public lands.
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6 comments> The Forest Service announced the decision one month after a local environmental group, Save Our Forest Assn., filed a lawsuit arguing the agency was illegally allowing the company to continue operating under a permit that was past its expiration date.
In addition to not having a permit, even if they did have one they were using the water for non-permitted purposes:
> In the July Forest Service letter, Nobles said the company was repeatedly asked to provide “additional information necessary to assure compliance with BlueTriton’s existing permit” but that the requests were “consistently left unanswered.”
> Nobles said that under the regulations, he may consider whether the water used exceeds the “needs of forest resources.”
> He also said that while the company had said in its application that the water would go for bottled water, its reports showed that 94% to 98% of the amount of water diverted monthly was delivered to the old hotel property for “undisclosed purposes,” and that “for months BlueTriton has indicated it has bottled none of the water taken,” while also significantly increasing the volumes extracted.
It's 3 gallons a second.
Bottled water is dumb so it's not like I care about going to bat for Arrowhead, but if you think this has any environmental impact whatsoever you completely lack an understanding of the orders of magnitude involved in the water cycle.
> The Forest Service has been charging a permit fee of $2,500 per year. There has been no charge for the water.
Disgusting. Not a moment too soon. Couldn't happen to a nicer company and all that. /s
[disclaimer: LA County resident]
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