Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) is sounding the alarm to the largest threat to Florida’s drinking water supply: bottled water.
Wasserman Schultz cites a new report that shows the Nestle water bottling company is permitted by the state to “take a million gallons of Florida spring water” every day, and for free.
Free?
The problem with Nestle and other companies like Zephyr Hills bottling water in Florida is that the water is running out and “ spring flows & aquifer levels are declining,” says Wasserman Schultz.
Wait, did we mention that Nestle is a French company based in France?
According to the report, Florida is 'the heavy' when it comes to “concentrations of freshwater springs in the world,” having the most of any other country, but because state and local governments keep issuing water bottling “extraction” permits, the aquifers that feed the Santa Fe River in the northern part of the state, do not have enough time to regroup, or “recharge.”
Nestle has a permit that allows it to take a million gallons of Florida spring water. A day. For no cost.
Meanwhile spring flows & aquifer levels are declining.
“There is no more water to give out from the Santa Fe River" an environmental scientist saidhttps://t.co/ZIvvgoMtfR
— Debbie Wasserman Schultz (@DWStweets) September 16, 2019
This is a problem. We all love our bottled water, but at what cost?
Now, ending bottling entirely may not seem like a reasonable solution to Florida’s water problem, but it is an option.
“The answer to this problem is simple: No more extraction permits should be granted, and existing permits should be reduced with the goal of eliminating bottled water production entirely in Florida. At the very least, corporations should be taxed for the water they now extract free of charge. That revenue can be used to pay for water infrastructure projects.”
Nothing in life is free, so water shouldn’t be free to companies who profit from bottling and selling it.
That’s the American way, right?
