While working on an article about my pleasant family camping trip to Ginnie Springs, I was amazed to learn that the State of Florida is planning to allow Nestle to suck Ginnie Springs dry so that the company can make a lot of money.
So I had to stop writing that article to quickly write this one.
Here are the facts:
- Nestle wants to extract 1 million gallons a day from Ginnie Springs through a company called Seven Springs Water
- The State of Florida will allow the community water to get pumped for free
- The one-time application fee costs $115 and will give Seven Springs Water the right to take 1 million gallons from the spring for the next 20 years, which comes to 7,300 million gallons.
- The aquifer levels of the Santa Fe River are already falling every year and there is less flow every year from the spring
- Nestle assures everybody that everything will be fine
The New York Times wrote an article about this (along with many FL media outlets). Here is a paragraph from the NYT, which I agree with wholeheartedly:
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.
New York Times
Even though Nestle has assured us that Ginnie Springs will thrive, I remain skeptical that we should just take their word for it.
I know, I know…if you can’t trust a mega cooperation that stands to make millions of dollars by taking our water, who can you trust? But still, my gut tells me that we should take another look at giving them the permit.
If you want to take action, go here to the Suwannee River Water Management District website and let them know you oppose permit 2-041-218202-3.
