By Kevin McCarty, Sacramento City Council, District 6 With California in its third year of drought, the City of Sacramento’s water conservation strategy includes busting people who flood sidewalks. Since June, we’ve been telling residents they can water landscaping on only three specific days per week and there is to be no watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Last year, the City Council decided to ban bottled water at its meetings. We did so in recognition that plastic water bottles are littering the world and the precious water they once contained is often wasted. That’s why I was surprised to learn that the Nestle Waters North America Co. is moving forward with plans for a water bottl

Discussion over a Nestlé water-bottling plant appears to be growing in Sacramento, as the Swiss multinational prepares a facility for operation and new hires begin work. The Sacramento City Council, which was not involved in the decision to approve the plant, will discuss the issue publicly for the first time after a request two weeks ago by council members Kevin McCarty and Lauren Hammond. They asked the council to consider an emergency ordinance requiring a special permit before Nestlé Waters North America begins bottling city tap water and spring water at a plant in South Sacramento. Such a permit could "trigger" an environmental analysis of this and future facilities, McCarty said We

Groups fighting a Nestlé water-bottling plant in Sacramento are bringing a documentary about the bottled water industry to the Crest Theatre Wednesday night. Save Our Water Sacramento and the Alliance for Democracy's Defending Water for Life campaign are hosting two screenings of "Tapped," a 76-minute film examining the industry and the question of whether access to water is a human right or a commodity that should be bought and sold. "We felt that now is an important time to bring that kind of film to Sacramento so people can find out what kind of issues we're facing with this proposed Nestlé bottling plant," said Sacramento resident Evan Tucker, a leader of Save Our Water Sacramento. "

A group of residents trying to stop Nestlé from opening a water-bottling plant in Sacramento plans to join forces with other Northern Californians fighting the same battle elsewhere. Meanwhile, California Attorney General Jerry Brown will consider whether to request a copy of the plan for a division of Nestlé, the world's largest food company, to bottle and sell spring water and an unlimited amount of city tap water taken from the American River every year. NestléWaters North America plans to open a plant here after losing a six-year fight to bottle glacier-fed spring water near Mount Shasta. Brown threatened to sue the company over an inadequate environmental review for its plan to bott

Sacramento residents are taking first steps into the water justice movement in an effort to stop Swiss company Nestle from bottling and selling city tap water. About 60 people and one dog packed a tiny Quaker church in a Midtown office suite Monday night to discuss growing concerns over Nestle's plans to open a water-bottling plant in Sacramento and to bottle an estimated 82 million gallons of water from the American River every year. One of the group's biggest worries is that Nestle's use of the water would not be regulated or limited in any way. While city employee and Nestle's public relations team estimates are tens of millions of gallons apart, the actual amount of water Nestle may