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Nestlé sucks — literally — the lifeblood out of Florida’s precious freshwater springs | Opinion

The fate of one of Florida’s most fragile freshwater springs now is in the hands of the Nestlé company, which intends to drain nearly 1 million gallons a day and sell them back to us in plastic bottles.

Last week, despite a tide of opposition, the Suwannee River Water Management District unanimously approved a controversial permit that will uncork a siphon from Ginnie Springs for the noble purpose of further enriching a multinational conglomerate.

Not only is the state giving away precious water for free, but it’s allowing that to happen on a river system where the flows already have dwindled 30 percent to 40 percent below historic norms, according to the Florida Springs Institute.

The water board’s decision will be appealed, but the prospects for stopping Nestlé or future exploiters aren’t good for Ginnie Springs, a lovely and wildly popular location for swimming and diving along the Santa Fe River, not far from Gainesville.

Under the new agreement, a family-owned company called Seven Springs Water will be allowed to renew its permit to pump Ginnie Springs for a puny one-time fee and dramatically increase the previous number of gallons diverted daily.

Then Seven Springs would sell that water at a torrential profit to Nestlé, which is expanding production at its bottling plant in Gilchrist County.

The levels in the Santa Fe River system already have dropped because of too much commercial pumping that, combined with reduced seasonal rainfall, has also allowed nitrates and other farm waste to enter the water.

Nestlé, the world’s largest bottler of water, produces Zephyrhills, Pure Life, Deer Park and other labels you know. It has 27 production sites and about 7,000 employees in the United States, and it draws water from 38 natural springs.

Florida is one of its most generous and unquestioning suppliers.

In an attempt to boost support for its plunder of Ginnie Springs, Nestlé aired TV ads touting its civic role as an employer. Still, the Suwannee River Water Management District staff had opposed the expanded “consumptive use” permit.

But the district board members — all appointed by either Gov. Rick Scott or Gov. Ron DeSantis — backed off quickly after an administrative judge named G.W. Chisenhall sided with the water bottlers, saying their product is of “beneficial use” to the public.

Right. Especially those millions of plastic containers that enhance the grandeur of our landfills.

Actually, state law defines “reasonable-beneficial use” not just as the “efficient and economic utilization” of water, but as doing it “in a manner which is both reasonable and consistent with the public interest.”

You might wonder what possible public interest is served by allowing a private company to suck almost 365 million gallons of fresh water every year from the spring of a struggling river system — and not get charged a nickel for restoration.

Nestlé’s answer won’t surprise you. It’s the same one we hear from all companies trying to defend dangerous exploitation of public resources: jobs. Every move they make is excusable because they employ people.

If we accept that near-sighted rationale — that jobs are more important to our future than a safe, enduring environment — then why not start logging the Big Cypress, fracking the Panhandle and drilling for oil down in the Keys?

The fact is that if Ginnie Springs gets bled to a trickle because of commercial water bottling, tourism will dry up and the economic toll on that community will dwarf Nestlé’s total payroll there.

District water managers approved the new permit “with protest,” which technically leaves a legal avenue for activists and local residents. The reality is that the jacked-up pumping of the spring will be hard to stop.

Ironically, a few days before its win in North Florida, Nestlé had other interesting news to share: The food company is selling Zephyrhills and its other North American water brands to two private equity firms for $4.3 billion.

Sales have slowed in recent years as more consumers become concerned about the impact of single-use plastic bottles. Carbonated competition from sparkling brands such as LaCroix have also cut into the bottom line.

Nestlé’s official explanation for unloading its U.S. bottling operations is that it wants to focus more on its international brands, which include Perrier and S. Pellegrino. Another possible factor is that the spring-water extraction industry is facing new scrutiny in Congress.

The company’s deal with the equity funds won’t close for months, but it’s a safe bet that the new owners of Nestlé’s lucrative pipeline to Ginnie Springs will be just as thirsty for more product to sell.

And that Florida, as always, will eagerly open the spigots.