From The Oregonian: The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has agreed to trade its water rights at Oxbow Springs to pave the way for a Nestle bottled water plant in Cascade Locks.
Cascade Locks City Administrator Gordon Zimmerman said the city and the state wildlife agency jointly submitted paperwork Friday morning to initiate a water rights cross transfer, with the state trading spring water for the city’s well water.
The Columbia River Gorge city will then pass the spring water on to Nestle, which will bottle and sell it.
Nestle’s proposal to bottle 100 million gallons of Oxbow Springs water annually for sale throughout the Northwest has been controversial, with multiple environmental organizations, public health groups and unions protesting the deal.
They’ve been working on this since 2010. Background here:
What’s the problem with this plan? Well, the bottling plant could adversely affect migratory fish. Salmon and steelhead passing through the Lower Columbia to points and tributaries upriver often have to deal with high temperatures, and Herman Creek provides a cold water thermal refuge.
Check out this page for info on how to speak up about this.
