The Nestle Project: Environmental Impacts

1. The Nestlé project plant will reduce water flows to the McCloud River Falls, Squaw Creek, Soda Springs, Big Springs, Muir Springs and Mud Creek.
2. The lava tube hydrology of McCloud's aquifer makes Nestlé's plan to drill bore holes high risk for the people of McCloud.
3. The project puts our historic fisheries at risk.
4. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) will not protect us.

1. The Nestlé project plant will reduce water flows to the McCloud River Falls, Squaw Creek, Soda Springs, Big Springs, Muir Springs and Mud Creek.
All of these places are an integral part of McCloud's heritage and of its future potential. If the experience of other communities is any indication, any or all of these local treasures could be permanently damaged or destroyed before we could stop Nestlé in court. Nestlé's approach in Michigan and Texas has been to continue drawing water long after local wells, streams and springs begin to be harmed by their water-bottling activities. Nestlé's well-funded legal teams are able to postpone judgments for years by using the appeals courts, enabling them to continue pumping tens of millions of gallons of water in the meantime and effectively destroying riparian areas long before the courts can rule. That is quite a risk to take with our most beloved natural heritage. Read Dr. Tom Myer's hydrologist review of the DEIR.

2. The lava tube hydrology of McCloud's aquifer makes Nestlé's plan to drill bore holes high risk for the people of McCloud.
The entire community could see a loss of wells and springs below any bore hole intake. This is exactly what happened in Dunsmuir with the Mt. Shasta Spring Water project. Because of legal loopholes, Mt. Shasta Spring Water was never held accountable for their impact on their neighbors. Nestlé has used the same loopholes in other communities to avoid responsibility for similar disasters.

3. The project puts our historic fisheries at risk.
The McCloud River is a world-class trout stream. Yet, there was absolutely no research done on the impacts of Nestlé's water draw on the fishery before the contract was signed. According to the District, 1300 of the 1600 acre-feet that Nestlé would take is currently feeding Squaw Valley Creek, which in turn feeds the McCloud River. The McCloud River has been a destination for anglers for roughly 125 years. The money brought to McCloud by fishing helps to sustain McCloud's small businesses. Why would we blindly jeopardize that resource and income with no scientific data and only Nestlé's word as reassurance?

4. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) will not protect us.
There are plenty of loopholes that large corporations use to get around CEQA requirements. California law is full of stories of CEQA failing to protect communities like ours from corporations like Nestlé. We can't depend on state law to save us. The community must work with our county government to make its wishes known and to ensure that those wishes are respected.