In the face of stark opposition from environmentalists, a state water board on Tuesday unanimously approved “with protest” Nestlé’s bid to pump one million gallons daily for its bottled water business from one of the treasured natural springs along the Santa Fe River in north-central Florida.

Critics promised immediately to appeal the decision on Ginnie Springs by the seven-member governing board of the Suwannee River Water Management District. The approval was expected but still a blow to activists, who said further pumping of the crystal blue waters would put at risk the health of an already taxed river and a network of springs that make up its surrounding ecosystem.

At nearly 60 feet deep, set among a 200-acre forest, Ginnie Springs is one of Florida’s most popular freshwater diving locations and enormously popular among swimmers, paddlers and naturalists.

The decision, after a four-hour board meeting and about 19,000 written public comments to the district, culminated a fight that extended almost two years and drew international attention. But environmental activists say they will continue to work to stop the permit. Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson of the group Our Santa Fe River said advocates’ next step will be to sue the district. “The communities do not want this,” she said. […]

The district previously indicated it would not approve the “consumptive use” permit, but a state administrative judge, G.W. Chisenhall, last year backed a legal appeal. He ruled that the bottled water would be of “beneficial use,” one of the legal standards in such cases, and ordered the board to reconsider. […] [T]he board’s lawyer, said that ruling effectively tied the board’s hands, meaning the conditions that they could use to deny were out of their jurisdiction.

The board’s decision renews an expired water use permit for Seven Springs to provide water for bottling operations to Nestlé, which produces the Zephyrhills and Pure Life brands. The company had previously been withdrawing water from the springs in lower amounts. Nestlé, a Swiss multinational food and beverage company, said the springs could accommodate its pumping […].

Ahead of the decision, Nestlé had been airing political advertisements on network television stations across the region noting that it employs hundreds of people as part of its bottling business.

The Ginnie Springs bottling plant has operated since 1998, but Nestlé bought it in 2019 and aims to dramatically expand pumping there in a business that has been incredibly lucrative for the company and others in the bottled water industry. Last week, Nestlé coincidentally announced it would be selling its North American spring water brands, which include regional brands in other states and Canada, for $4.3 billion.

The debate laid bare competing public interests in Florida: Successive Republican governors and the GOP-controlled Legislature have aggressively courted economic development in the face of criticism they have been insensitive to environmental threats from corporate activities. Many residents consistently express they care deeply about the state’s natural habitats, including its beaches, natural springs and the Everglades wetlands that extend across South Florida.

All the board’s members were appointed by Florida’s most recent Republican governors, Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis.

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Headline, images, captions, and text published by: April Rubin. “State OKs Nestle plan to tap 1 million gallons a day from Florida spring for bottled water.” Miami Herald. 23 February 2021.