Tue, Aug 27, 2019 page7

• Nestle plan to siphon Florida river sparks outcry

  • The Guardian, MIAMI
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  The crystal blue waters of Ginnie Springs have long been treasured among the string of pearls that line Florida’s picturesque Santa Fe River, a playground for water sports enthusiasts and an ecologically critical haven for the numerous species of turtles that nest on its banks.

  However, soon, it is feared there could be substantially less water flowing through, if a plan by the food and beverage giant Nestle wins approval.

  BOTTLED WATER

  In a controversial move that has outraged environmentalists and also raised questions with authorities responsible for the health and vitality of the river, the company is seeking permission to take more than 4.16 million liters a day from the natural springs to sell back to the public as bottled water.

  Opponents have said the fragile river, which is already officially deemed to be “in recovery” by the Suwannee River water management district after years of earlier overpumping, cannot sustain such a large draw — a claim Nestle vehemently denies.

  Critics are fighting to stop the project as environmentally harmful and against the public interest.

  Meanwhile, Nestle, which produces its popular Zephyrhills and Pure Life brands with water extracted from similar natural springs in Florida, has spent millions of US dollars this year buying and upgrading a water bottling plant at nearby High Springs in expectation of permission being granted.

  The company needs the Suwannee River water management district to renew an expired water use permit held by a local company, Seven Springs, from which it plans to buy the water at undisclosed cost.

  Nestle insists spring water is a rapidly renewable resource and promises a “robust” management plan in partnership with its local agents for long-term sustainability of its water sources.

  Yet company officials conceded in letters to water managers supporting the permit request that its plans would result in four times more water being taken daily than Seven Springs’ previously recorded high of 0.98 million liters for its customers before Nestle.

  “The facility is in process of adding bottling capacity and expects significant increase in production volumes equal to the requested annual average daily withdrawal volume of approximately 1.152 million gallons [4.36 million liters],” Nestle Waters North America natural resources manager George Ring wrote in a letter to the Suwannee district engineers in June.

  Campaigners against Nestle’s plan, who have set up an online forum and petition and submitted dozens of letters of opposition ahead of a decision that could come as early as November, have said that environmental grounds alone should be enough to disqualify the plan.

  “The question is how much harm is it going to cause the spring, what kind of change is going to be made in that water system?” the non-profit Our Santa Fe River’s director Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson said.

  “The Santa Fe River is already in decline [and] there’s not enough water coming out of the aquifer itself to recharge these lovely, amazing springs that are iconic and culturally valued and important for natural systems and habitats,” she said.

  “It’s impossible to withdraw millions of gallons of water and not have an impact. If you take any amount of water out of a glass you will always have less,” she added.

  NATIVE SPECIES

  Additionally, the Santa Fe River and its associated spring habitats are home to 11 native turtle species and four non-native species, which rely on a vigorous water flow and river levels, Malwitz-Jipson said.

  “Few places on Earth have as many turtle species living together and about a quarter of all North American freshwater turtle species inhabit this small river system. A big threat to this diversity is habitat degradation, which will happen with reduced flows,” said Stefani Weeks, program engineer with the Suwannee River water management district.

  She made the remarks because Seven Springs was seeking a five-year renewal of an existing permit instead of making a new application.

  Board members could not consider in their final decision the Santa Fe River’s protected designation and a recovery strategy implemented in 2014 to restore reduced water flows and levels.

  However, the district has its own questions, and last month wrote to Seven Springs for a second time to request answers.

  “Their first response we didn’t feel was complete, so we asked for them to go into more detail,” she said. “Once they respond we will review that information.”

  Among the items the district wants are an evaluation report of any harm that the project might cause to wetlands and a documented impact study of Ginnie Springs.

  The permit cannot be granted unless Seven Springs can show that there would be no change in “water levels or flows of the source spring from the normal rate and range of function,” the district said.
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