If you’re like us, then your top priority this summer is getting out to our glorious Oregon and getting into some fresh, clean water to cool off. If those plans for outdoor wetness include the Columbia Gorge, then get ready to get Furious… Swiss conglomerate Nestlé wants to make sure that our Columbia River water comes to you in teeny tiny plastic bottles from now on. Looks like it will happen, too. Why? Well, because our public interest right to water doesn’t measure up to Nestlé’s right to make a profit. Seriously; the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), 
which controls Oxbow springs, traded its water rights to Cascade Locks so they could trade it to Nestlé. Why the handoff? Because ODFW is required to consider the public interest as part of the deal, while Cascade Locks isn’t. Get ready, get set, get Furious as you watch our Columbia River shipped to Quicky Marts and our economy shipped to Switzerland!
There are many articles dealing with this controversy, but the best we could find came from BARK, a lead member of the Keep Nestlé Out of the Gorge Coalition (and recent beneficiary of our Referral Rewards program). Rather than rewrite their excellent summary, we bring it to you with only slight edits. You’ll also find several links that go deeper and other links that will direct you to ways to get involved… if you’re so inclined.
Nestlé Water Bottling Proposal (from BARK on the Keep Nestlé Out of the Gorge Coalition website)
Just 100 yards outside of Mt. Hood National Forest’s northern boundary Oxbow Springs flow out of the ground into the Herman Creek watershed, known for its outstanding trail system. Herman Creek is also a thermal refuge (cold spots where tributaries dump into the warm Columbia River) for threatened steelhead and salmon. Oxbow Springs is currently permitted to the State of Oregon to supply water for a salmon and steelhead hatchery run by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW).
In 2010, at the request of Nestlé Waters North America and the City of Cascade Locks, then Governor Ted Kulongoski directed the Department of Fish and Wildlife to initiate an exchange of water that would trade .5 cubic feet per second, or CFS, of the pristine spring water for well water from Cascade Locks’ municipal system. The City would then provide the water to Nestlé at its normal commercial water rate of approximately .2 cents per gallon.
Nestlé has proposed to bottle over 100 million gallons of water per year from Oxbow Springs, a publicly-owned water source in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The accompanying bottling plant would be built in the city of Cascade Locks and would strain existing water and transportation infrastructure, requiring millions of dollars of upgrades. Despite this, and the 200 semi-truck trips through town every day, city officials support the proposal based on Nestlé’s promise of up to 50 new jobs.
Bark has facilitated over 94,000 people in telling state officials that the Oxbow Springs giveaway is not in the “public interest,” a standard by which the application is measured. Now Nestlé wants to avoid that standard by having the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) permanently transfer its water right, which surprisingly does not require a public interest assessment. (Update- ODFW decided to make the transfer in April 2015)
Digging Deeper
ODFW agrees to new approach for Nestle bottled water plant in Cascade Locks– Kelly House in The Oregonian, April 2015
Thousands petition Ore. gov to stop Nestlé water deal– Tracy Loew in the Salem Statesman Journal, May 2015
Of Oregon’s 31 water bottlers, none as controversial as Nestle– Interactive by Kelly House in The Oregonian, March 2015
Nestlé CEO: Water Is Not A Human Right, Should Be Privatized– (video interview) Nestlé CEO explains why their profit trumps the water rights of the planet
Nestle is closing in on privatized water in Oregon– Lucas Ropek on AmericaBlog, May 2015
Nestle bottled-water plan draws fight in drought-stricken Oregon– Alison Vekshin, Bloomberg News, May 2015
In Drought-Ridden California, Activists Demand Repercussions for Nestlé– Nadia Prupis on Common Dreams, Apr 2015
Broad Coalition Delivers Thousands of Public Comments on Controversial Proposal to Open the Gorge to Nestlé– article on KeepNestléOut.wordpress.com, May 2015
Get Involved
BARK-out.org– Defending and Restoring Mt. Hood
Keep Nestlé out of the Gorge– A diverse group of organizations, formed to protect the scenic Columbia River Gorge from a Nestlé water bottling facility.
Get Even Angrier with these Two water-related Furiousities from our archives…
