While the drought conditions worsen across California, water officials have moved to stop the siphoning of millions of gallons of water out of the San Bernardino forest by the water and food company Nestlé.

For years, environmentalists have accused Nestlé of draining water supplies at the expense of local communities and the ecosystem. The latest development in a protracted battle between the bottled water company and local environmentalists is the draft cease-and-desist order, which requires the approval of the California Water Resources Control Board before getting any water supply.

According to The Guardian, Nestlé has maintained that its rights to California spring water dates back to 1865. However, an investigation in 2017 found out that the company was taking far more than its share. Last year, the company drew out around 58 million gallons, which is far beyond the allowed 2.3m gallons per year that it could claim validly.

Millions of Gallons of Water Taken

The Story of Stuff Project is an environmental group that has been supporting the stoppage of the pumping in California of the water company for years. The group confirmed that the company has sucked up, on average, 25 times as much water as it may have a right to.

In addition, state officials sent a notification letter regarding the order to the company on Friday. Julé Rizzardo, the Division of Water Rights assistant deputy director, said the state has a limited amount of water. She also emphasized that the state already faced the second dry year in a row, and local officials must protect the municipal water supply and the environment.

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Furthermore, Strawberry Creek, an area where the company has been pumping from, is a tributary of the Santa Ana River that provides drinking water for more than 750,000 residents in the state. The watersheds in the region also provided a habitat for deer, fox, mountain lions, and threatened Alameda whipsnake, The Desert Sun reported.

The draft order against Nestlé came two months after the Switzerland-based company sold its U.S. and Canada-based water brands to equity firms One Rock Capital Partners and Metropoulos worth $4.3 billion.

Meanwhile, Nestlé Waters North America, which has been lately rebranded as BluTriton Brands, has 20 days to appeal the draft order and request for a hearing. A spokesperson for the company stated based on their assessment that it only had the right to draw 7.26 acre-feet of water per year, and it was erroneous.

On the other hand, the battle over water supply by the company does not end in the state of California. They also have similar fights in the states of Oregon, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Michigan. Conservationists across the United States have accused Nestlé of leveraging vast lobbying funds to bend local and federal officials to its will, Earth Island Journal.

Amanda Frye, an activist, provided the documents and research going back at least a century to state officials to show that Nestlé did not have the right to the water it was pumping. She also emphasized that the forests that Nestlé is draining are the forests of the people and supported by every U.S. taxpayer.

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WATCH:Drought hit California orders Nestlé to stop pumping millions of gallons - News Time