[All] Fwd: URGENT ACTION NEEDED!! Nestle Waters Canada – Permit to take Water renewal bid. Deadline is March 5, so please act NOW!

[Norah & Richard]

Please forward to lists. we have little time to respond. The headwaters 
must be protected from corporate stealth. The pipeline must be rejected. 
Norah



      URGENT ACTION NEEDED!! Nestle Waters Canada – Permit to take Water
      renewal bid. Deadline is March 5, so please act NOW!
      <http://www.wellingtonwaterwatchers.ca/2011/02/nestle-water-canada-permit-to-take-water/>

As many of you may already know, Nestle Waters Canada has officially 
applied for a renewal of its permit to take water in Aberfoyle, this 
time for an unprecedented 10 years at up to 3.6 million litres per day. 
The deadline for public comments is March 5th - less than 10 days away - 
so we're urging you to take some time right now to submit your comments 
on this renewal bid. Scroll down for comment suggestions AND the direct 
link to the Ministry of the Environment comment page. Feel free to 
include your own comments too, of course, or simply cut and paste the 
points you feel are most crucial. *THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO ACT AS SOON 
AS POSSIBLE*, please, as we must put a stop to this unprecedented 
10-year bid by Nestle - or significantly alter it.

WWW has requested an extension to this deadline because the proper 
documents relating to the renewal bid were late coming to us. We are not 
sure if we will be granted the extension, so all comments must be 
submitted at the latest by March 5th.

Please check our website wellingtonwaterwatchers.ca 
<http://wellingtonwaterwatchers.ca/> regularly over the next few days to 
keep posted on news about the extension and upcoming events. For now, 
mark your calendars for a special Friday March 4th evening speakers' 
event at the E-bar (which will include an opportunity to submit 
last-minute comments about the Nestle bid to the MOE) more details 
coming soon. Please also encourage everyone you know to come out on 
Saturday March 5th for a whole */Community March/* from downtown Guelph 
to the Nestle Waters plant in Aberfoyle. Come for the whole march or 
join in for any part it. All details will be sent out in another WWW 
newsletter early next week.

Wellington Water Watchers is also seeking your support in a number of 
ways during this important - and urgent - campaign. First, 
pleaseconsider making a donation to our organization, by clicking here: 
http://www.wellingtonwaterwatchers.ca/donate/

Second, consider becoming a WWW member (if you aren't already) - or 
renewing your membership with us - by clicking on the following link: 
http://www.wellingtonwaterwatchers.ca/home/become-a-member/.

Third, spread this email far and wide.

You can also follow @wwaterwatchers on Twitter or join our Facebook 
group to spread the word: 
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_190733987624806&ap=1 
<http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_190733987624806&ap=1>.

Many thanks for your ongoing support and assistance, helping us to keep 
our water in the 'shed!

Regards,

Mike Nagy and Andre Hueniken,

Wellington Water Watchers Board Members

Click *Here 
<http://www.wellingtonwaterwatchers.ca/nestle-waters-canada-permit-to-take-water/>* for 
Wellington Water Watchers press release

*Nestle Waters Canada Permit to Take Water*

Nestle Waters Canada has applied for an unprecedented 10 year permit 
extension to take 3.6 million litres of water per day at the Aberfoyle 
site.  We *strongly oppose* this permit for the reasons stated in the 
attached document, *Wellington Water Watchers Technical Submission. 
<http://www.wellingtonwaterwatchers.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/letter-to-MOE-revisions-Feb-16-rev1.docx> 
*Please feel free to use these comments for your own submission which 
can be copied into the following*Ministry of Environment Comment Link 
<http://www.ebr.gov.on.ca/ERS-WEB-External/searchComment.do?actionType=add&noticeId=MTEyMjA2&statusId=MTY4MzIw&noticeHeaderIdString=MTEyMjA2>*. 
Or use the short points listed below to help you make your case to the 
Ministry.

Please note we have requested a much needed extension to this comment 
period but currently comments must be in on or before March 5.  Your 
comments are critical to letting the Ministry of Environment know about 
your concerns.

The Wellington Water Watchers is a not-for-profit organization and your 
financial support is much appreciated and funds are needed to support 
this and other important campaigns.

<http://www.wellingtonwaterwatchers.ca/donate/>

Thank you!

*Short Points*

Wellington Water Watchers opposes this application because:
· The amount of groundwater in our Grand River watershed is not known. 
Allowing large-volume water taking is like writing blank cheques on a 
bank account with an unknown balance.

· Water is too valuable a resource to be given away – and that’s 
virtually what our province does by charging Nestlé and others a mere 
$3.71 for every million litres taken.

· In 2010, Nestlé paid just $2,238 for over 600 million litres of water 
taken from Mill Creek in Aberfoyle. This works out to about .0000004 
cents per litre, a far cry from the true value of such a priceless resource.

· Environmental harm being done. The millions of litres taken weekly are 
put into single-use, disposable plastic bottles. The industry claims 60% 
of these bottles are recycled – as what? – but that still means hundreds 
of millions every year become litter, or trash in our landfills. We call 
this a permit to pollute.

· There are no water conservation measures built into this renewal 
permit. The volume of water taken should be decreased annually to 
encourage water conservation. This is one of the principles of Ontario’s 
new Water Opportunities Act.

· We believe that water taking is harming Mill Creek. There are no brook 
trout in the stretch of creek that runs beside the bottling plant, but 
there are trout in the rest of the creek. Is so much water being taken 
that it is preventing spring water from upwelling into the stream-bed? 
Until this is resolved, a precautionary approach should be taken.

· The applicant has asked for an unprecedented 10-year water-taking 
permit. Yet we have no idea how drought or climate change will affect 
Guelph’s water supply in years to come. At most, any new permit should 
be issued for three years or less.

· Much of the water when bottled leaves the Grand River watershed. 
Justice Dennis O’Connor’s report on the Walkerton tragedy recommended 
that water be managed on a watershed basis. Nestlé and others should be 
required to use glass, deposit-bearing bottles that are sold only within 
the Grand River watershed.



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