WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.845 You know, I only have a few years left in life, maybe twenty years; fifteen maybe. 00:00:04.845 --> 00:00:07.714 So I thought about what's the most important thing that I could do 00:00:07.714 --> 00:00:13.500 in the time that I have here. And, uh, taking care of my grandkids, 00:00:13.500 --> 00:00:17.310 and making sure that they have a place to enjoy: that they have streams to enjoy; 00:00:17.310 --> 00:00:20.280 that they have wildlife to enjoy. 00:00:20.286 --> 00:00:23.106 That's, probably, one of the most important things I can do. 00:00:29.716 --> 00:00:34.309 Nestlé is drawing water from a spring or a well, 00:00:34.309 --> 00:00:37.079 within the National forests, within public lands that are owned 00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:38.979 by the people of the United States. 00:00:38.979 --> 00:00:41.709 It's drawing that water and then it's diverting it, in a pipe, 00:00:41.709 --> 00:00:44.109 down several miles outside of the forest. 00:00:44.239 --> 00:00:51.509 Nestlé has an expired special use permit, issued 1978 that expired in 1988. 00:00:51.509 --> 00:00:55.833 Uh, that permit alone allowed them occupy National forest land, with the 00:00:55.833 --> 00:01:00.657 infrastructure necessary to remove water. And they take anywhere from 00:01:00.657 --> 00:01:05.445 50 to 150 million gallons a year, depending on certain conditions. 00:01:05.886 --> 00:01:10.596 The Forest Service's maybe is getting a pittance of what this water's worth. 00:01:10.596 --> 00:01:14.621 We're subsidising the business that depletes that public land resource, 00:01:14.621 --> 00:01:18.860 and that then creates cost on down the line in its lifecycle, 00:01:18.860 --> 00:01:21.270 as well in the waste management cost. 00:01:21.510 --> 00:01:25.530 The drought drags on but the watershed, you know, grows drier. 00:01:25.710 --> 00:01:31.815 Why is a foreign corporation like Nestlé being allowed to withdraw millions 00:01:31.815 --> 00:01:36.884 and millions of gallons out of our watershed, making a huge, huge profit? 00:01:37.316 --> 00:01:43.132 (interviewer) Do you have any intention of ceasing bottling operations in California? 00:01:43.489 --> 00:01:48.282 (Tim Brown) Uh, absolutely not, uh, in fact, um, if I could increase it, I would. 00:01:48.479 --> 00:01:50.594 We feel good about what we're doing. 00:01:50.834 --> 00:01:56.341 Strawberry Creek is just barely hanging on because there's so much water removed. 00:01:56.651 --> 00:01:58.917 And then when we saw the drought that's currently going on, 00:01:58.917 --> 00:02:01.351 that's the worst drought in recorded history here. 00:02:01.917 --> 00:02:07.487 Um, so all of that together made me really worry about Strawberry Creek, 00:02:07.487 --> 00:02:11.257 I thought that there's a good chance we could completely dry Strawberry Creek up. 00:02:11.487 --> 00:02:15.979 Ah, the Strawberry drainage is, uh, is a critical drainage for, uh, 00:02:15.979 --> 00:02:20.734 our plant and animal communities, and it becomes more and more critical every year. 00:02:20.734 --> 00:02:25.258 Because as the urban population in Southern California grows, uh, 00:02:25.258 --> 00:02:29.205 the National forests down in Southern California are becoming more and more 00:02:29.205 --> 00:02:33.205 isolated islands, of plant and animal communities. 00:02:33.268 --> 00:02:38.457 This is a dry habitat that means that those riparian areas, those areas that are wet, 00:02:38.457 --> 00:02:41.889 are essential. Especially in dry years, like this year, to wildlife. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:47.283 And it's at 0.18 now, 0.18 cubic feet per second, which is nothing, 00:02:47.283 --> 00:02:48.953 I mean, it's almost no water. 00:02:48.953 --> 00:02:52.583 Species that have lived there, over eons of time, could be lost; 00:02:52.583 --> 00:02:54.643 it's just a, it's a terrible thing. 00:02:55.337 --> 00:02:59.459 The Forest Service hasn't looked at this in a number of years and so they can't say 00:02:59.459 --> 00:03:02.889 "yes we're protecting those public resources, yes we're making sure 00:03:02.889 --> 00:03:05.829 that there's sufficient water for all the species, yes we're making sure, 00:03:05.829 --> 00:03:09.179 that, we're holding this in trust for the people of the United States, 00:03:09.179 --> 00:03:12.799 we're using it in a sustainable way." And they're obligated by law 00:03:12.799 --> 00:03:16.129 to use the resources on the National forest in a sustainable way. 00:03:16.225 --> 00:03:21.849 A year ago, I started begging the Forest Service and Nestlé to start meeting 00:03:21.849 --> 00:03:26.063 together to start talking about Strawberry Creek, to work together on their permit 00:03:26.063 --> 00:03:30.903 and on the, uh, and on protecting the National forests, and I was begging 00:03:30.903 --> 00:03:34.603 them to do that, and, um, and still nothing's happened; 00:03:34.603 --> 00:03:36.563 there's no meetings, there's just talk. 00:03:36.563 --> 00:03:40.033 Everybody in California is effected by the drought, but not Nestlé, 00:03:40.033 --> 00:03:44.033 or any other water bottling company. I mean, this is our water! 00:03:44.033 --> 00:03:48.033 The water in the, in those mountains belong to every California(n), 00:03:48.033 --> 00:03:49.633 and every tax payer in America. 00:03:49.751 --> 00:03:55.617 Personally, I invested 40+ years of my life being a professional forester. 00:03:56.137 --> 00:04:01.681 And I care a great deal that public land in our country is properly managed, 00:04:01.681 --> 00:04:07.696 especially, in a manner that makes sure that the goods and services it provides 00:04:07.696 --> 00:04:09.828 are there for future generations, 00:04:09.828 --> 00:04:12.394 and that's not how it's being managed right now.