I’m working on something much bigger, so this will be short and sweet:

Nestlé Waters North America has decided to withdraw its proposal to build a bottling facility in McCloud.

via Nestlé Waters ends pursuit of McCloud facility – Mount Shasta, CA – Mount Shasta Herald.

Bye, Nestle.

One down, two more to go (Klamath dams & Westlands).

UPDATE: I’ll certainly write more about this development next week; it’s the culmination of a lot of work on the part of a lot of people, and it deserves a few more nouns, verbs and adjectives. Also, Nestle still owns the old mill site in the middle of McCloud – anyone want to buy, protect, or use for sustainable development a 240 acre chunk in the middle of trout heaven?

Technorati Tags: mccloud, mccloud water bottling facility, Nestle, nestle in mccloud, nestle waters of north america

Longtime readers know of my deep and abiding dislike of Nestle Waters of North America – a small division of one of the world’s most (deservedly) boycotted corporation.

They’re like the Enron of the bottled water world, only better run – and perhaps even less ethical (this is the same multinational that knowingly tricked third-world moms into a dependence on their baby formula in the 70s and 80s – a practice they haven’t quite stopped today).

I got tired of their divisive, behind-the-scenes antics in the nearby town of McCloud, and after a little research revealed the depths they seemed happy to sink to in other small towns (they sued the tiny town of Fryeburg, Maine five times [losing the first four] before they found the legal loophole they needed to force the town to permit a 24/7 truck loading station in a residential area).

They even inspired one of the Trout Underground’s better April 1 posts.

Now it looks like they might finally be getting the hell out of McCloud. (They just recently had their asses handed to them in Mecosta County, MI.)

Either way, I like the sound of this (from my StopNestleWaters.org site):

We knew that Nestle Waters of North America’s just-announced water bottling plant in Sacramento, CA, might have an impact on their long-delayed McCloud bottling plant.

From the Mount Shasta Herald:

“In four to six weeks, we will let McCloud know if we will continue with our McCloud plans,” company representative Dave Palais said Monday night, noting that a recent article incorrectly stated that the company would be dropping its McCloud proposal.

Woot!

Well, maybe.

This is also reeks of a seen-plenty-of-times-before negotiating tactic used by Nestle in McCloud and other towns, whereby they hope to stampede yokels into accepting Nestle’s typically rapacious deals.

I’d like to point out that Nestle – and the bottled water industry at large – are suffering the effects of a sizable downturn in the bottled water market, which used to grow at double-digit rates.

They blame the economy, but public backlash against bottled water continues to grow, and with the US bottled water market shrinking 3% in just the first quarter, it’s pretty clear that Nestle’s promises of jobs to McCloud could be turning to vapor as we speak.

See you on the Nestle-free McCloud river, Tom Chandler

Technorati Tags: mccloud river, mccloud water bottling plant, Nestle, nestle waters of north america

I’m aware of the fact that not every fly fishermen is fully invested in the Underground’s take on the environment, but my appearance on Trout Unlimited’s On The Rise Broadcast has generated probably the Best Email To The Underground Ever:

I think if you are going to show fishing,you should leave you’re environmental crap to yourself. I have young children that don’t need to be raised on your paranoid beliefs.Stay in California and quit spreading your brainwashing. I’m sorry that you can’t see that you have been raised in a confusing culture that wants to blame the people instead of the governmental and world wide destroyers. Get you’re crap together. Wake up and stop selling what you think THEY want to hear.

Speaking for paranoid, confused, brainwashed types worldwide, I’d like to say “thanks” for waking me up to what I so clearly missed – the work of that insidious band of “governmental and world wide destroyers” (Wait a minute – isn’t that Nestle? Err, well, uhhh… Has the new administration appointed a “World Wide Destroyer” Czar? I think he has.)

Besides making me want to invest heavily in aluminum foil-lined hat futures (and perhaps a bodyguard), the Underground is happy to recognize anyone capable of providing this level of comic relief. We salute you.

And Now, a Little Fly Fishing. Well, Not Really.

I look out the window at my just barely passable driveway and reflect on the concept that over the last week, better than four feet of snow fell on it – and that I invested the equivalent of four afternoon fishing trips keeping it barely passable.

It’s not the kind of thinking that generates a warm fuzzy feeling (in fact, it causes me to question my personal values surrounding snow removal, as confused and brainwashed as they clearly are), and because the weather’s warming and you can see the snow softening, you know that river flows are probably heading up the next two days – about the time you’ll actually be clear of deadlines and able to fly fish.

Still, right now the Upper Sac seems to be bouncing around 1100/1200 cfs, which is plenty fishable – especially at the higher reaches of the river (remember, the gauging station is just above Shasta Lake). Of course, the best BWO hatches are typically found in middle sections of the river, creating something of a connundrum for greedy fly fishermen (aren’t we all).

The Hostile, Confused, Brainwashed Underground

Taken as a whole, all of the above means one thing: I’m in what you might deem a pretty hostile mood (just try me Barton, try me).

Naturally enough, this makes me want to stick another pin in Nestle Waters of North America (perhaps I’m just hoping to attract another entertaining email), so I’m posting a YouTube trailer for an upcoming documentary called “Tapped.” It’s 341 seconds the water bottling arm of Underground Axis of Evil Member Nestle would rather you didn’t see, but even those not connected to the Nestle issue will find the trailer soundtrack worth their time.

Click here to view the embedded video.

See you milling around with all the other world wide destroyers, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: bottled water, Fly Fishing, nestle waters of north america, on the rise, tapped

It was gratifying to see the Friday night broadcast of Trout Unlimited’s “On The Rise” episode – the one focused on the McCloud River and Nestle Waters of North America’s cavalier approach to the water. (The show is being re-broadcast Saturday 2/14 at 1pm PST.)

Regular Undergrounders know of my distaste for Nestle Waters, their predatory approach to small towns, and their apparent lack of concern for the McCloud River.

And yes, t’s clear to me the McCloud River is a favorite among my readers (soneone said if the McCloud’s not a favorite, it’s because you haven’t fished it yet).

Curtis Knight of CalTrout filled the early part of the show deftly outlining the threats to the river, and yes, I made an appearance in the last segment, where I successfully didn’t soil myself.

In fact viewers were treated to an inside view of the the Underground’s Brown Trout Mobile (the slowly deteriorating brown Bronco), and you probably also got a good glimpse of the river, which – as host (and new daddy) Frank Smethurst put it – was still somewhat TU (totally unfishable).

Thoughts

The show did an excellent job covering the threat to the river, and maybe now you know why CalTrout’s Curtis Knight is an Underground favorite.

The show would be a ton more fun if they’d broadcast some of the interaction between the crew and Smethhurst. It’s pure guys-on-a-fishing-trip entertainment, even if it doesn’t fit into the show’s format.

From a purely personal perspective, it’s a glimpse back into time – a look at a couple months and a couple pounds ago, on a river that you can’t legally fish right now.

I hope this places a little more pressure on Nestle to start playing fair with rural towns, and while it’s a small victory, it’s a shame that every town facing Nestle can’t get its own TV show (interesting fun fact: Nestle is the most-boycotted corporation in the world).

Now that my brief broadcast career is over, see you back on the river, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: caltrout, curtis knight, fishing, Fly Fishing, mccloud river, mcloud, Nestle, nestle waters, on the rise, trout unlimited

Fly fishing might be labeled the quiet sport, thought it’s anything but when you’re looking for enough footage to populate a half-hour fly fishing show.

To get that footage, you might find yourself climbing up on a rock in the middle of a flood-stage river, casting into a tiny gap in the trees, then throwing a weighted streamer back over your shoulder.

At least, you would if you’re uber-fly fisherbum Frank Smethurst:

Crazy Uber-fly fisherbum Frank Smethurst doing what it takes on the McCloud (kids, don’t try this at home)

At times I’m reminded why I’m much happier writing about fly fishing than shooting video of it. Writing leaves you in complete control of the story (history, after all, is defined by those who write it), and writers are famously good at forgetting the embarrassing details.

Video leaves you at the mercy of the universe, your own shortcomings, and makes little allowance for conditions bent on handing your own ass to you on a platter.

Welcome to the Flood. Now Here’s Your Ass.

I invested last Saturday getting pounded by the McCloud’s record-high flows with Frank Smethurst and a Barrett Productions video crew, shooting an episode of Trout Unlimited’s “On The Rise” TV show.

How’d you like one of these looking over your shoulder? Smethurst did, but I didn’t…

Nobody with a firm grip on reality would hammer out a quality fly fishing show on a river running high enough to flood the footpaths running alongside, but Smethurst and the video crew were on a mission.

TU’s On The Rise is unique in that it prizes fly fishing footage, but also highlights hot-button conservation issues.

Smethurst travels the country in a trout-painted Airstream trailer (which they left at home, damnit), and this time, he was looking into the threats to the McCloud River (perhaps the best-loved river of the assembled Undergrounders – and one of the prettiest).

These threats, of course, include the Underground’s close, personal friends at Swiss Multinational Predator Nestle Waters of North America (how do I love thee Nestle? Let me count the ways).

That’s why the effette, low-modulus, dry-fly fishing me found myself standing on the banks of the fast-moving, Nature Conservancy section of the McCloud (running at historic highs due to a broken PG&E powerhouse), 9′ 6wt Orvis Zero-G graphite fly rod in hand.

Attached was a streamer that weighed approximately the same as a Trident nuclear missile sub, which in all likelihood was more dangerous to the man casting it than it was to the trout (note to Undergrounders: when depth-charge streamers are involved, wear a hat, and fish something with a warranty.)

This, my friends, was not going to be pleasant.

Welcome to the World of Video. Now Here’s Your Ass.

Complicating matters was the presence of a two videographers and a sound man; people whose express purpose in life was to tape every embarrassing move, bad cast, odd utterance and trout I farmed.

While waiting for me to screw up (and tape it), the crew shot the pretty stuff.

Well, OK. Maybe that wasn’t what they said they were doing, but it’s clearly what they were trying to accomplish.

They also foolishly believed I’d be able to talk intelligently about Nestle issues while I fished, when instead I mostly was focused on not soiling myself on camera.

Expectations, it seems, are rarely our friends.

Clearly – with Smethurst capable of busting out a couple good trout even under awful conditions – they were looking to the Underground for something else, like… comic relief.

Welcome to the McCloud. Now here’s Your Ass.

Ultimately, Smethurst – a fly fisherman with more than two decades of guiding experience – pounded up good half-dozen nice trout and few smaller ones using techniques I’m willing to classify as “manly.”

Meanwhile, your hero acquitted his comic relief role beautifully; at our first stop, I got one ponderous wiggle from a nice fish on the streamer, didn’t hook up, and got halfway through the big fish temper tantrum before remembering the camera.

Later, I had another “feelgood” on the streamer, but figured I had the world by the tail when we found a couple rising fish.

This, my friends, was the kind of fishing I’m supposed to be good at; a hand-to-fin confrontation with the wily trout at the intersection of our native habitats.

Welcome to Rising Trout. Now Here’s Your Ass.

In one sense, I set the stage for my own humbling; we were headed for a spot I thought would fish well at high flows, but found another angler already fishing it. Turns out he was an Underground reader (therefore, his sanity is suspect), and he rather urbanely left when he saw us coming.

There my Underground friends, we found fish actually working a foam line, and while Smethurst went headhunting with the big stuff, I watched a big trout roll on (but not actually take) my first cast with an October Caddis.

My confidence swelled. I was going to catch nice trout while somebody recorded it for the rest of the world to see.

I stepped closer to the edge….

Welcome to Greek Tragedy. Now Here’s Your Ass.

Anyone with a working knowledge of Greek drama knows what’s coming; hubris is always rewarded with disaster (thus concluding today’s highbrow literary reference).

First, I lost my footing and narrowly avoided a swim.

Then I missed two grabs on the October Caddis.

Then switched to a small parachute (closer to the bug they were really eating).

Then missed four of those. Then hooked a small trout… briefly.

Then hooked another small trout… briefly.

Suddenly, soiling myself on camera was looking a lot better, and probably wouldn’t have been as damaging to my reputation.

Ultimately – while Smethurst landed a handful more nice trout on the big, heavily weighted October Caddis nymph – I banked exactly one ten-inch trout, an act which only made me feel like the dullard cousin at the family reunion.

No way that tiny McCloud rainbow trout makes the show.

I did, however, distinguish myself nicely as the day’s netman; apparently, netting an already-hooked fish is more within my skill horizon.

So Mom, break out the VCR – I think I’m going to be on TV.

Welcome to Television, Nestle. Now Here’s Your Ass.

Comedy aside, the conditions sucked and the crew was really cool (thought apparently underpaid to the point they were foraging in the blackberry bushes for food), and yes, I did get a kick out of the chance to talk about the McCloud River, Nestle, and some of the other water-related issues facing my area.

After all, within an hour’s drive of our meeting point, I’m looking at three significant trout-and-water-related problems (McCloud/Nestle; Klamath/Pacificorp; Shasta Dam/Westlands).

Still, the always-gorgeous McCloud River and Nestle were the main topics of conversation, and it’s nice to know both will get the recognition they so richly deserve come next June or July, though for entirely different reasons.

Fall color on the McCloud kept the crew busier than the fishing.

Welcome to On The Rise.

My first review of the On The Rise TV show was lukewarm; it felt stiff and unnatural, and yes, my expectations for the conservation angle were probably unrealistic.

Still, it was promising enough that I taped the whole season. Sure enough, as the season progressed, the shows got better, with Smethurst relaxing and enjoying the fishing.

The episode on the Gunnisson was pure fun on a stick; watching Smethurst laugh his way through an electro-shocking survey might be one of the better moments in fly fishing broadcast history.

I don’t know what the next season holds for On the Rise, but I give Trout Unlimited (still the other, less-famous TU) credit for mixing in a conservation angle.

That’s why – when Smethurst asked me exactly what the Trout Underground really was, I told him it was originally just one writer’s perspective on fly fishing – but that it had morphed into something bigger pretty quickly.

And yes, I did say it was time for fly fishermen to step it up a little on the conservation front, and that the Internet offered far more opportunities for that than did a magazine or even a fly fishing TV show, quick action being impossible with the latter two.

Welcome to the McCloud… Well, Wait...

My recent encounter with the McCloud suggests it’s not very much fun, and that despite fishing the few hand-picked spots I thought would offer the best chance.

Until the flows drop, I’d stay the hell away from the McCloud – something Smethurst heard me repeat several times. I was dying to put those guys on the Upper Sac October Caddis hatch, if only because you could actually stand in the river.

Then again, the Upper Sacramento’s been pretty crowded the last couple weeks, and though I’ve busted out a couple of big evenings there lately, it’s possible I’d have spent the day letting video nerves drive a way-too-fast, way-too-soon hookset – and without the existence of a handy excuse (say, raging flood waters).

See you on TV, Tom Chandler.

trout unlimited, on the rise, mccloud river, nestle, fly fishing, fishing, frank smethurst

Powered by ScribeFire.

Technorati Tags: fishing, Fly Fishing, frank smethurst, mccloud river, Nestle, on the rise, trout unlimited

Longtime readers know of my antipathy towards Nestle, the predatory multinational that tried to railroad a million square foot water bottling plant into McCloud.

The original contract was negotiated and approved without the benefit of any real public input, Nestle’s Environmental Impact Report was more prank than serious document, and the company took an absolute battering.

Now – with the contract dead and Nestle angling for a new deal, a series of public meetings are going to be held in an attempt to avoid the nastiness of the past.

The first is this Wednesday (Oct. 22), and to help those rushing from work, the McCloud Watershed Council is hosting a FREE PIZZA-fest prior to the meeting (those are words that will warm the heart of any fly fisherman). Here’s an email from the Watershed Council:

Nestle hired Kearns and West, a public involvement firm, to facilitate a series of public meetings regarding Nestlé’s new project proposal. This is a perfect opportunity for all perspectives to give their input into a new process.

To encourage attendance, and in an effort to bring McCloud residents together, the McCloud Watershed Council is hosting a FREE “Pre-Nestle Meeting” Dinner. If you don’t have time to cook and also make it to the meeting, then please come to the free pizza dinner at 5pm in the courtyard on Main Street next to the McCloud Hotel.

What: Community Meeting About Nestlé’s Proposed Water Bottling
Plant in McCloud
When: Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 6:00 p.m.
Where: McCloud High School Gymnasium, 133 Campus Way, McCloud
Why: Everyone who has a stake in the future of the McCloud community, economy and the McCloud River watershed deserves to have their voice heard.

Sadly, I committed long ago to teaching a class on Wednesday night, so I won’t make it to this meeting. Damn.

Still, locals – and anyone up visiting who worries about this (and other) threats to the McCloud watershed – should try to attend (free pizza).

See you there next time, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: mccloud, mccloud river, Nestle

I promised you another Fly Fishing Retailer post – an homage to just how little I care about reporting on yet another $450 fly reel – but I’m still digging out from under an avalanche of work.

The good news is you’ll see something tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s a hilarious video clip about to go up on my StopNestleWaters site. I shot water out my nose.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Undergrounders know of my dislike for multinational corporate predators Nestle Waters, a water bottling divison of Nestle which – despite all the Underground’s helpful advice – still seems incapable of playing nice with others.

In a brazen attempt to help Nestle Waters understand the error of their ways, I launched something that will no doubt brighten the mood around their corporate offices: StopNestleWaters.org

Go ahead and click through. We don’t bite – not you anyway.

Despite the fact Nestle’s recently taken a beating, they’re still up to their old tricks: suing tiny towns for their water, negotiating secret deals out of site of the public, and just generally being a massive corporate pain in the ass.

Undeniably, they’ve provided many hours of mirth and lazy target practice for the Undergrounders, and that hasn’t wholly ended.

It was just time to ramp things up a bit.

Bad Multinational: Put That Rural Town Down

You see, Nestle’s doing less-than-pleasant things in small communities around the country, and while citizens groups form to fight the Chocolate-Covered Swiss Menace (which sounds better than it is), they tend to remain local in their focus.

In other words, there are a lot of people fighting the same fight – but in different places.

Why not a site that brings them together?

Viola! (or) Voila!

A couple weeks of sleepless nights, and StopNestleWaters.org was born.

As much as anything, it’s an exploration of the idea that the Internet can level the playing field between a handful of locals and the world’s largest food and beverage company – complete with multi-bazillion dollar PR budgets and people in suits dedicated to turning the world’s freshwater supply into one big Nestle bottling plant.

Today is the site’s soft launch; I’m slowly letting the online world in on the joke gig.

Why am I telling you? Because some of the Undergrounders may simply want Nestle to keep their filthy paws off the McCloud River’s water.

Others may want to check in from time to time, or register for the site’s RSS or email feeds.

Maybe you’ll even want to participate in the discussion, which – given Nestle’s prediliction for shooting itself in the foot – promises to be amusing. In the meantime, expect regular service on the Underground (if such a thing exists) to resume.

So please place your tray and seat in the upright and locked position: We’re ready for takeoff.

See you on StopNestleWaters.org, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: bottled water, Nestle, nestle waters, stopnestlewaters

I’ve got last night’s fishing report just waiting to be written, it’s raining softly outside, and we’ve two pieces of breaking news (maybe three) that simply can’t wait.

Mt. Shasta Brewing Wins!

We’ve chronicled the first amendment struggles of Mt. Shasta Brewing (and the tastiness of their Shastafarian Porter) against the ATF (or whatever they’re calling themselves today).

Basically, the feds objected to the brewery’s “Try Legal Weed” bottlecap, and most of the civilized (and by “civilized” we mean “beer-drinking”) world erupted in disgust.

Be disgusted no longer, Undergrounders – this just in from Mt. Shasta Brewing owner Vaune Dillmann:

Yesterday afternoon we got a registered/certified letter – return signature required from our “buds” at the U.S. Treasury/TTB – stating that they will now accept our bottle caps and slogan/logo as is!

TTB agreed we are in fact proper in our Bottle Cap appeal; that we are not inferring a drug reference, nor are we confusing the public as to what is in our beer bottles!

Far be it from us to claim responsibility for something we had nothing everything to do with, but we can only draw one completely and wholly erroneous legal conclusion from this whole thing: Drinking Beer is Protected Under the First Amendment.

Dillmann’s now calling this caper the “Bottlecap heard ’round the world” episode, and we’ve been drinking too much beer to disagree.

Nestle Officially & Formally Capitulates

While they’d been making the right noises, Nestle finally agreed to begin a whole new contract negotiation with the McCloud Services District over their proposed McCloud water bottling plant, including such niceties as the gathering of real scientific data about water impacts.

In other words, after years of wrangling, intimidating legal efforts, community organizing and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots (see what I did there?) of bad/awful/embarrassing PR, Nestle’s finally doing the right thing.

Here’s a thought for Nestle: Consider doing the right thing from the start next time (silly us; that’s not their business model…)

It also means the McCloud Services District has a chance to Get It Right This Time. Let’s hope they do.

Good News Trifecta: Solar Power Discovery Promises to Revolutionize Stuff

This breaking energy news in from the Underground’s Egghead Patrol:

Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today’s announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.

Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. “This is the nirvana of what we’ve been talking about for years,” said MIT’s Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. “Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon.”

Woo-hoo! We’re all for saving the world, but the Underground’s Crack Team of Big Thinkers sees the deeper implications: abundant, sustainable, and largely free energy means the Undergrounders will throw off the burden of their Energy Oppressors, leaving more time to fly fish.

Sure, other news outlets will focus on the fact this discovery has the potential to save the world as we know it, but the Trout Underground sees beyond the hype.

No need to thank us with great big wads of cash. It’s just what we do.

See you at the news desk, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: beer, mccloud, mit, mount shasta brewing, Nestle, solar power, try legal weed

I wasn’t planning on throwing a pair of enviro stories at the Undergrounders this morning, but this one’s too sweet to ignore.

The California Attorney General’s office has weighed in on Nestle’s proposed McCloud bottling plant (.pdf document alert), and like seemingly everyone else on the planet, they don’t much like what they see (excerpted from scan of letter):

These days, bad PR is falling on Nestle like rain in a Midwest thunderstorm. Their Web site says “Good Food. Good Life.”

Judging by the sheer volume of anti-Nestle rhetoric flying in the mass media and on the Internet, it might be time they started looking for a new tagline.

Technorati Tags: bottled water, bottled water backlash, mccloud, Nestle, nestle mccloud, nestle waters

I admit it; I’ve taken it easy on multinational corporate predator Nestle Waters of North America as of late.

After all, I’ve been happily fly fishing in Montana, and they’ve taken a pounding all over the USA at the hands of suddenly energized rural towns which are no longer happy to see them suck the local aquifers dry, and do so in exchange for a handful of sub-living-wage jobs.

With Nestle being turned away by small towns everywhere, we’d like to suggest an alternative liquid for them to bottle

There’s even rumors floating around the Underground’s neck of the woods that Nestle’s willing to do almost anything to make the bad press stop, which… (wait for it) is the Underground’s cue to pile on.

Our first cannonball into the bottled water pool?

First up Is Kennebec, Maine, where Nestle’s plant proposal was soundly trounced by vigorous citizen opposition, who forced the trustees to cancel a vote on the project:

When local citizens became energized in opposition to a proposed public/private partnership between our water district and Nestle/Poland Spring, they invited the water district officials to what was a spirited and well-attended meeting on June 22 in Kennebunk. The uproar caused postponement of the anticipated vote at the June 25 trustees meeting.

That, my furry group of Undergrounders, is one Maine-sized can of whupass.

Next comes the story of a small town in rural Washington which didn’t even let Nestle unpack their bags – they kicked the minions of the cloven hooved deceiver multinational to the curb right away:

Last month, without so much as a public hearing, Enumclaw sent a message to the multinational corporation: Go tap someone else’s spring.

In the past several years, as the bottled-water industry has boomed, Nestlé has set up 26 plants in towns across the country, tapping into local springs. Enumclaw was its first shot at a Northwest plant.

It did not go well. As word spread of the proposal, residents unleashed a torrent of e-mails and letters to the local paper, concerned about a possible water shortage, the potential for invasive corporate control and the damage plastic bottles can do to the environment.

Ouch. And this in-your-face rejection happened to none other than Dave Palais — Nestle’s McCloud operative, who’s taken so many lumps over Nestle’s proposed McCloud plant and subsequent retreat from their original proposal that we’re almost (not really) starting to feel sorry for him.

Next we look to an AFP story outlining the backlash against bottled water that Nestle and other bottlers are “enjoying” right now:

Janet Larsen, director of research at the Earth Policy Institute, cites a “backlash against bottled water as more people are realizing what they get out of the bottles is not any better than what they get out of the faucet.”

The Pacific Institute, a California think thank on sustainability issues, contends that producing bottles for US water consumption required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil in 2006, not including the energy for transportation.

Haven’t read enough about the backlash against bottled water? Here’s another:

Across the country, opposition to bottled water is building, amid growing concerns about the industry’s environmental impact and rising fears about private control of public water supplies.

“There’s no question that there is a groundswell,” said Ruth Caplan, coordinator of Defending Water for Life, a Washington, D.C.-based campaign that opposes the bottled water industry.

Sadly, the news isn’t all good; the Underground’s heart goes out to the citizens of Fryeburg, Maine, who are facing their umpteenth (Ok, third or fourth) round of litigation at the hands of Nestle’s legal department.

Still, there’s hope, as evidenced by this lengthy passage from a story on the Corporate Accountability International site. It’s long, but the last paragraphs are worth it:

One reason community members were concerned with Nestlé’s practices was the fact that the corporation was getting local water for a relative bargain, while most residents of Fryeburg got the short end of the stick.

Nestlé secured a deal with a handful of local investors giving the corporation exclusive access to the town’s primary wells. While Nestle and a few local investors reaped large profits from the deal, other residents received no tangible benefits – instead, it became more difficult for Fryeburg residents to protect a water source that had once been designated to serve the needs of the local community.

In response to the local opposition, Poland Spring opened an office in Fryeburg.

“When Poland Spring decided to open an office in Fryeburg to offer ‘free coffee and real communication’ as part of their ‘good neighbor policy,’ they also offered to give away free cases of Poland Spring water,” said Mike Dana, a Fryeburg resident. “I was amazed at how ludicrous it was to pump water from the aquifer into tanker trucks, ship it to a bottling plant, put it into plastic bottles, ship it back to Fryeburg and offer it to the local residents as a ‘free gift.’”

Dana, along with Dearborn (the two are neighbors), had an idea about what Poland Spring could do with its free gift.

I think the Underground has the same idea Dana and Dearborn do, but I’m too polite to say it.

In truth, what’s happening is nothing short of revolutionary.

Nestle’s grown used to walking into small rural towns and having their way with the locals, buying water for a pittance and selling it at prices that make gasoline seem cheap.

Suddenly, communities are recognizing the risks, and seeing battles being fought and won by others.

The battle for McCloud’s water may prove to be a turning point in the bottled water saga; Nestle’s operative arrived and played the usual gambits — pitting community members against each other and using Nestle’s legal department to intimidate opponents (including a heavy-handed attempt to subpoena personal financial records).

Yet here we are a few years later, and Nestle’s on the mat, thanks largely to a committed community effort and the involvement of groups like CalTrout.

See you fighting the good fight, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: bottled water, bottled water backalsh, mccloud, Nestle, nestle in mccloud, nestler waters

Stolen from the Piton.Technorati Tags: nestle, nestle waters of north america

After what seems like years of settling the Underground’s crosshairs on Nestle’s hairy corporate butt McCloud water bottling plant proposal, it seems as if the opponents of Nestle’s million-square-foot plant and sweetheart pricing deal ($150/day for water) have what they want.

Nestle announced they were going to reduce the size of their plant (it’s still too damned big, but…), take less water than originally proposed, and renegotiate that ludicrous contract with the McCloud Services District:

After years of battling the proposed Nestle water bottling plant in McCloud, CA, the Protect Our Waters Coalition (POW) announced today that it is optimistic about Nestle Waters North America’s (Nestle’s Waters) recent announcement that the company intends to begin negotiations this year with the McCloud Community Services District (MCSD) on a new contract to replace its 2003 contract with the MCSD, and will undertake additional scientific research on their proposed scaled-back water-bottling project in McCloud, California.

At this point, McCloud’s fate is in its own hands, and one hopes the McCloud Services District learned enough from its last disastrous encounter with Nestle’s legal department to get it right this time.

That includes hiring a real negotiator and a real attorney to construct the contract (the last was so lopsided it should have been written sideways, and Nestle paid for McCloud’s attorney review).

And this time, public comment and input must be part of the process (it wasn’t last time).

Larger questions remain, and they’re worth raising here.

This isn’t over — and I’ll keep the Undergrounders up to speed on the potential water/noise/traffic impacts on one of NorCal’s favorite fly fishing destinations — but the bigger picture still needs painting.

For starters, it’s clear counties and states need to implement groundwater regulation.

The current laws were put into place when hand pumps were the norm, and groundwater seemed endless.

It’s not, and we’re seeing a lot of damaging "groundwater strip mining" operations popping up around Siskiyou County — and the rest of the country.

Tapping one spring isn’t a disaster, but tapping a couple dozen could become disastrous when it comes to our coldwater fisheries.

And mark my words — this is exactly what Nestle has in mind (they’re already doing it in Maine).

As water becomes the next oil, and California’s Water Wars heat up, this will become a real problem instead of an abstract concept, and quickly too.

See you painting the bigger picture, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: bottled water, mccloud, mccloud river, Nestle, predatory multinationals

Even those raving, anti-business liberals at BusinessWeek have seen the writing on the wall surrounding Nestle’s predatory approach to rural water supplies:

This is cautionary tale for any company. Time was when multinationals could arrive in economically depressed communities and pretty much have their way. But in the age of hyper connectedness, residents in McCloud were able to turn their issue into an international sensation.

Now Nestle has capitulated. The management lesson: no company can afford to go forward with projects like these without engaging ALL stakeholders, not just supporters. Yes, this is still David versus Goliath. But David has a megaphone.

They got the last bit wrong. It’s not David vs Goliath. It’s a whole bunch of Davids vs Goliath (including the Undergrounders).

Here’s hoping for a renegotiation of the Nestle contract resulting in a worthwhile project for the town of McCloud — and a little instant karmic payback for Nestle’s legal intimidation, copious lies, and for consciously splitting the town of McCloud in two.

Technorati Tags: bottled water, mccloud, mccloud river, Nestle, nestle waters, predatory multinationals

Nestle — stung by widespread criticism of its water bottling practices and a declining market (no, that’s not what they say), announced it will reduce the size of its McCloud water bottling plant (originally slated to be the biggest water bottling facility in the world) by approximately two-thirds.

In addition, they’ve agreed to reduce the amount of water taken by more than half — pumping 200 million gallons per year instead of the originally planned 521 million acres.

This, Undergrounders, mean’s we’re halfway there.

Renegotiate!

What remains is the renegotiation of multinational predator Nestle’s rapacious contract with the McCloud Services District — the five-member elected board who negotiated the existing contract in secret and approved it after a single public meeting.

While little is official at this point, the new project looks like this:

• 350,000 sq. ft. plant (instead of a million sq. ft. monster)
• 200,000,000 gallons of water annually (521,000,000 gallons)
• Agreement to monitor flows in Squaw Creek for two years prior to building the plant

Presumably, the number of truck trips will be reduced from the mind-boggling, road-grinding 600 trips per day.

The Mount Shasta Herald suggested that changes to the specifications of the contract could mean renegotiation of all the terms of the contract, so it’s possible McCloud will be able to do away with the “negotiated-by-monkeys” contract that pays 1/100th the value of the water, and offers no increase in rates for 100 years.

This is good news, Undergrounders. And while Nestle says rising fuel costs and the construction of a Denver plant drove this decision <coughbullshitcough>, a careful look at last year’s financials suggests their water market is no long growing, and that public backlash is badly damaging correctly identifying the company’s image.

UPDATE: The Protect Our Waters Coalition (CalTrout, McCloud Watershed Council and Trout Unlimited) have weighed in:

“While it certainly is a smaller plant than it would have been, it nonetheless uses a large amount of water. It’s still a major operation,” said Severn Williams, a spokesman for the Protect Our Waters Coalition.

It plans to lobby for a higher price for the water and a clause that limits Nestle to pumping only water from the springs around McCloud while prohibiting the company from touching the aquifer.

Williams also said the coalition wants a contract with a shorter timeframe than McCloud’s current 100-year commitment to sell its water exclusively

More water news as it happens, Undergrounders. It’s not a bad way to come back home.

Technorati Tags: nestle,nestle waters,bottled water,mccloud,mcloud river,squaw creek,bottled water backlash,multinational predators

Technorati Tags: bottled water, bottled water backlash, mccloud, mcloud river, multinational predators, Nestle, nestle waters, squaw creek