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Nestlé Is Illegally Bottling Water Amid California’s Drought, Lawsuit Says

The Center for Biological Diversity, the Story of Stuff Project, and the Courage Campaign Institute filed the federal suit on Tuesday, calling for an immediate halt to Nestlé’s water pipeline at Strawberry Creek. The water is bottled and sold under Nestlé’s Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water brand.

An investigation by the Desert Sun in March found that while Nestlé, the largest bottled water company in the U.S., holds water rights to the area, its permit to transport water across the national forest expired in 1988. Since it has not been renewed, the U.S. Forest Service hasn’t examined the ecological impact of Nestle’s removal of tens of millions of gallons of water each year, the paper reported.