“We have reached the time in the life of the planet and humanity’s demands upon it, when every fisherman will have to be a river keeper, a steward of marine shallows, a watchman on the high seas. We are beyond having to put back what we have taken out. We must put back more than we take out.”
With this eloquent opening quote from the Thomas McGuane novel, The Longest Silence, Jay Hake, legal council representing CCFS, began his talk last night at the senior center.
Hake delivered a short and succinct outline for group discussion and laid out the options he felt were viable directions to continue.
The first option was to do nothing. He followed this by saying that perhaps now was the time to sit back and say we did our best, got a few things addressed in the 1041 permit that would not have happened without the involvement of the CCFS and move onto other projects.
The second option was a recall of commissioners. From a standpoint of Nestle’s water extraction operation this tack would have no impact at all. It wouldn’t undo where we were today and it wouldn’t halt Nestle. However, it would make a clear statement to commissioners about the public’s feelings on their decision.
Option three would be to request a Judicial Review of the Commissioners’ decision to grant the 1041 Special Land Use Permit. If the County Commissioners approve the draft of the 1041 Permit Resolution on Sept. 23 then citizens have 30 days to challenge. Such a request would be filed in district court and would examine such issues as whether the commissioners followed proper public process procedure and whether the resolution of approval exceeded their statutory authority.
Option four would be to join as an objector in district water court. While on rare occasions groups such as CCFS have participated in water court challenges, water court bases decisions on water rights. CCFS does not own any water rights.
John Graham, president of the CCFS, and Jay Hake both reiterated that these last options would require a serious commitment from the community of time and money. Although currently a local issue, Chaffee County’s battle with Nestle reaches far outside our valley and brings to the forefront the possibility of water extraction in other areas of the state. CCFS members were also informed that they were not alone in the fight and that several large national groups including Food and Water Watch had been following their progress and were willing to help.
After listening to Hake outline the options available to continue to resist Nestle’s efforts to harvest water in Chaffee County, those present agreed to help organize a public rally at the Chaffee County courthouse on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 9am., an hour before Commissioners are expected to review and formally approve the formal resolution giving Nestle the green light to harvest 65 million gallons of spring water annually. At the special meeting, Commissioners will also consider granting the water bottler permission for an easement through county property to construct the project infrastructure.
Rally organizers have a two-fold goal. They hope to both send a message to Commissioners that the community is unhappy with the decision to grant conditional approval to the project, as well as raise awareness within the community that there are still options to pursue to try to block Nestle from implementing its project. The county has outlined 44 conditions it feels should help Nestle satisfy the requirements of a 1041 permit.
To review the County’s final formal resolution on the Nestle project or to become a member of the Chaffee Citizen for Sustainability visit their website at www.ccfsustainability.org
Bravo!!! I would have been at the meeting, but I was ill. I definitely will be at the Rally, and will try to get as many others to come as I can.
I am so proud of everybody! We all did a good job, and even if we didn’t succeed in keeping Nestle’s out, we did make them have to work a whole lot harder to get what they wanted. Now, if we can keep them from going ahead with their plans, it would be wonderful.
Personally, I have been boycotting all Nestle’s products, and will always continue to do so. Also, boycott all bottled water. It makes no sense at all to bottle water and sell it. No sense to anyone other than the greedy corporations who are making a mint out of it.
I hope the turnout helps bring this back to the table. My family won’t be able to be there so our support will be monetary, but I know that that is also needed at this time and we definitely will be a part of the bigger picture.
We ALL have to realize as Jay has stated that this again is much bigger than sometimes seems apparent at the time. We must become stewards of the land and take responsibility for the outcome. It IS in our hands and to not raise our voices would and will be letting others make the decisions for us.
I have heard it stated that there have been a lot of circumstances where water has been sold and wasted in the valley in the past…and if that is the case then NOW is the time when we all must make a change to stop the wastefulness of the past and work to make the resources available now and for the future for our children.
We cannot remain silent but raise our voices together as we all know there is strength in numbers. It is the ONLY way and no matter the result, it will not be an effort wasted…there WILL be an impact!