Save Our Water Meeting Set for September 28

Save Our Water is hosting a meeting Monday, September 28 at 6:30 pm at 1812 J St. in Sacramento on the deal the Nestle company made with the City of Sacramento to pump up to 116 million gallons of municipal water a year (at $1 per 750 gallons - what is your water bill?), while also pumping water from springs of undisclosed locations, bottle it and sell it at a 1000% markup.

There have been no public meetings about this and no environmental impact report.

For more info, attend the meeting and sign their petition, or visit www.saveourwatersacramento.org. Click on POSTS.

or read this week's Sac News & Review, Going Against The Flow, p 10

You can also read more in John's post here.

See U at the meeting!

For more information, contact: Nancy Price, nancytprice@juno.com


Background information:

On September 10, Nestle announced that it was abandoning plans for its controversial McCloud bottling plant after 6 years of fierce opposition. The McCloud plant received its final blow last year when Attorney General Jerry Brown wrote a letter telling Nestle that their environmental review was deficient and that they had to study environmental problems created by water bottling such as green house gas emissions, the use of petroleum and plastic trash (http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/pdfs/n1591_ag_comments_mccloud.pdf).

Now they plan to build a bottling plant in Sacramento with no public meetings, no environmental review and unlimited access to our municipal water. On August 9th, Mayor Kevin Johnson was quoted in the Sacramento Bee as saying, “We’re going to have to learn to use water smarter, which is a new way of thinking in our city where residents have tapped into two major rivers for generations… We need to light a fire under the city’s efforts to save water so we can be a shining example of how to use water more efficiently instead of being a showcase of waste and inefficiency.”

This is in stark contrast to statements Johnson made in response to Nestle moving into Sacramento. Johnson trumpeted Nestle’s arrival by saying “During these tough economic times, this company will not only bring jobs to the city, but it is also nice to have a reaffirmation that many firms still see Sacramento as such a desirable location.”

Nestle stated in their press release that Sacramento will be a better site for them because their Northern California customers are mostly located in Sacramento and the Bay Area. It’s time to let them know that people in Sacramento and the Bay Area completely oppose this project.

Call factory manager Chris Kemp and tell him you plant to boycott all of Nestle Waters’ products if this plant is built: 682-472-3040

If you live in Sacramento, contact Mayor Kevin Johnson and let him know you support his commitment to water conservation and that the Nestle bottling plant is the wrong way to do it. Contact him at mayor [at] cityofsacramento.org or 808-5300 (the phone number only works during the day).

At the Sacramento City Council meeting on September 4, District 6 Councilmember Kevin McCarty expressed concerns about the Nestle bottling plant and asked the city manager to report back to him on the water and environmental issues. If you live in council district 6, contact Kevin McCarty and let him know you oppose the Nestle bottling plant. 916-808-7006 or KMcCarty [at] cityofsacramento.org

Time: Monday, September 28, 2009 - 6:30pm PST
Length: 2:00