By DOUGLAS W. MOTLEY
Senior Writer
Blue Triton Brands, a former subsidiary of Nestlé Corp. based in Stamford, Conn., is continuing its ravaging of water from the Strawberry Canyon region of the San Bernardino Mountains, despite a stop and desist order from the California State Water Resources Control Board.
According to a Sept. 19, 2023, order from the California Environmental Protection Agency’s State Water Resources Control Board, the order directs the respondent, Blue Triton Brands, Inc., to cease its diversions through its Tunnels 2, 3 and 7, and Boreholes 1, 1A, 7, 7A , 7 B, 7C and 8 in the Strawberry Creek Watershed in San Bernardino County for its water-bottling operations because Blue Triton does not have any water rights that authorize these diversions and uses. However, this order does not prohibit Blue Triton from continuing to divert water through its Boreholes 10, 11 and 12 for its water-bottling operations or deliveries to the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.
Strawberry Creek, which originates in the vicinity of Twin Peaks, is a tributary of East Twin Creek, Warm Creek and the Santa Ana River that runs parallel to Waterman Canyon. According to Save Our Forest Association (SOFA) President Hugh Bialecki, between April 2015 and September 2017, the State Water Board received seven complaints against Nestlé Waters North America from individuals and organizations, including SOFA, the Sierra Club, retired Forest Service Biologist Steve Loe and local environmental activist Amanda Fry.
Consequently, a petition signed by thousands of individuals alleged that Nestlé was diverting water without a valid basis of right, was unreasonably using water, was injuring public trust resources and was either not reporting or was incorrectly reporting its diversions.
In an effort to quash these diversions of water, Bialecki, last week, told the Alpine Mountaineer, “We need more pressure on the U.S. Forest Service. I would recommend that people contact State Senators Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler and local Congressmen Jay Obernolte and Pete Aguilar. We have been requesting a cooperative meeting with the local Forest Supervisor and Front Country Ranger for two years and they have yet to respond.”
Pointing out that Nestlé’s permit expired 30 years ago, Bialecki said, “They’ve never had an environmental study and they have been diverting 60 million gallons a year for the past 50 years,” adding, “There are regulations surrounding permits that give the Forest Service the authority to deny permits and they are not enforcing them.”
In January, Blue Triton Brands filed a lawsuit in Fresno County Superior Court against the State Water Board and requested a motion to stay the cease-and-desist order, which puts the Water Board decision on hold. A trial date is expected for sometime in March for Blue Triton’s lawsuit to be heard. The suit alleges that the state’s Water Resources Board acted outside of its jurisdiction last Sept.19, when it decided that Blue Triton’s groundwater diversions affected surface water and were therefore subject to the board’s permitting authority.
Bialecki says a win for the Water Board is critical for the enforcement of the cease-and-desist order and the restoration of Strawberry Creek, reducing the fire risk in Strawberry Canyon, which burned in the 2003 Old Fire, nearly destroying the telecommunications network on Strawberry Peak (Twin Peaks), and starting to replenish the over drafted Bunker Hill Basin aquifer in the San Bernardino Valley, where 700,000 people depend on its water resources.
The Alpine Mountaineer will continue to follow this story.
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