104 millions gallons of water removed from public national forest.

Hi Nelson, In 2023 alone, Nestlé-successor BlueTriton removed an astounding 104 million gallons of water from our public lands in the San Bernardino National Forest – water that should have been nourishing the forest and providing drinking water to the low-income communities that live below the San Bernardino Mountains.  Join us in telling the corporations behind this water theft: it’s GAME OVER! Nearly a year ago, we shared news that California water regulators found BlueTriton had failed to prove that it had a legal right to the tens of millions of gallons of water it was removing annually from the San Bernardino National Forest for bottling.  But BlueTriton’s lawyers quickly tied the Water Board decision up in the courts, leaving the decision about the future of Arrowhead Springs in the hands of the US Forest Service. Over the past year our team has repeatedly reminded the Forest Service of its legal responsibilities, submitted enforcement petitions, met with federal and state officials, filed public records requests and more.  Then, in June, we provided funding to help a local partner, Save Our Forest Association, sue the Forest Service to ratchet up the pressure even more.  That lawsuit has prompted a BIG decision – the Forest Service has ordered BlueTriton to turn off the tap once and for all, ending a decades-long theft of public water to which it had no right! Help us raise $10,000 for Save Our Forest Association and other local partners on the ground.   In a July letter denying BlueTriton’s request for a new permit, the Forest Service ordered the bottling giant to plug its boreholes, turn over the keys to its infrastructure and submit a plan for decommissioning its pipeline! And just last week, the Forest Service invited local advocates to meet to develop a plan for the restoration of Strawberry Creek, which has been dewatered by BlueTriton and its predecessors for decades. This is a huge win! But BlueTriton isn’t going down without a fight, so we’ve got to keep the pressure on.  And at the center of that fight is the local community, including grassroots groups and our longtime partner, Save Our Forest Association. We’ve got their back all the way, and we know you’ll help us get them all the resources they need!  Together, we’ve come a long way. Every member of the Story of Stuff Community should feel enormous pride in this accomplishment – you powered this campaign for nearly a decade! I also want to congratulate the local citizens – including longtime activists Steve Loe, Amanda Frye and Hugh Bialecki and others – who made countless personal sacrifices to keep the pressure on. As I wrote to you a year ago, water is life – and you and others have proved to the world through this campaign that it's well worth fighting f