The Nestlé Waters North America 1041 permit hearing opened Tuesday, Oct. 20, with a 6-hour session and testimony by county staff members, county consultants, various stakeholder agencies, Nestlé representatives, and members of Unbottle and Protect Chaffee County Water LLC.
Chaffee County Commissioners agreed to move ahead with the Nestlé Waters North America public hearing scheduled for Oct. 20 and 22 but decided to further limit in-person attendance due to increasing numbers of local COVID-19 cases.
“Operation of the Nestlé Waters North America wells has not caused progressive depletion of the groundwater resources of Chaffee County,” according to a recent report by Gary Thompson, principal of W. W. Wheeler and Associates.
A problem with the hydraulic gate at North Fork Reservoir could necessitate draining the mountain lake at the headwaters of the North Fork of the South Arkansas River.
As the Nestlé Waters North America 1041 permit hearing approaches, opponents of extending the permit have questioned the sustainability of the company’s Chaffee County operations, especially with regard to climate change.
Chaffee County Commissioners agreed to allow an opposition group “up to one hour” to present its case against approval of the Nestlé Waters North America 1041 permit extension.
As the Chaffee County Commissioners prepare to consider extending Nestlé Waters North America’s 1041 permit, Delia Malone, an ecologist with the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, takes issue with Nestlé’s dismissal of “a warming climate and its impact on water resources”
Aspire Mountain Tours LLC has applied for a land-use change permit to operate an outfitting business with cabins and a campground near the Las Colinas subdivision.
Chaffee County Commissioners decided at their recent meeting to schedule the Nestlé Waters North America 1041 permit hearing at 5 p.m. Oct. 20 and 9 a.m. Oct. 22 at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds in Poncha Springs.
Chaffee County Commissioners began formal preparations for the Oct. 20 Nestlé public hearing during their Sept. 1 meeting.