Nestle Waters North America has applied for a 10-year renewal of its permit to pump more than 60 million gallons of water per year from the aquifer just north of Ruby Mountain near Nathrop.
The Chaffee County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the original 10-year-permit in 2009, allowing Nestle to use Chaffee County groundwater for its Arrowhead brand of bottle spring water.
The original permit established 44 conditions that Nestle was required to meet, including submission of annual project reports and the establishment of two $250,000 science education endowments to benefit Chaffee County’s two public school districts.
Documentation provided by Chaffee County Planning and Zoning staff show that Nestle has met all permit conditions except the requirement to employ Chaffee County residents in at least 50 percent of truck driver jobs.
Heart of the Rockies Radio contributor Joe Stone has written his first of a series of articles on the Nestle renewal process and it is available on heartoftherockiesradio.com.
More in depth articles from Joe Stone will be featured on our website leading up to and including the 1041 permit renewal public hearing on April 21st at the Buena Vista Community Center. Also on our website you will find links to Nestle’s permit, annual reports to the county and other relevant documents.
