| 4/30/2009 9:21:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | More negative Nestlé comments offered
By Joe Stone
Chaffee County Commissioners continued hearing largely negative public comment Wednesday regarding Nestlé Waters' special land use permit and 1041 permit applications.
Attendance at the 7½-hour special meeting fluctuated between 100 and 300 residents. The meeting began at 1 p.m. and commissioners adjourned to executive session about 9:30 p.m. so they could receive legal advice regarding procedural processes.
By press time it was unknown when the special meeting will reconvene although commissioners earlier said they will accept written comment until May 12.
Nestlé needs the land use permit to develop the water supply from two springs near Nathrop. The company needs the 1041 permit to identify and mitigate any potential adverse impacts from the proposed project.
Terry Scanga, general manager of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District, expressed concern about potential impact of the Nestlé proposed augmentation plan.
The plan relies on water leased from Aurora and could trigger the loss of 1,000 acre-feet of Arkansas River water during a drought.
Scanga revealed that the conservancy district and City of Salida offered Nestlé an augmentation plan that would have cost $500,000 a year, while Aurora is asking about $180,000 a year for augmentation water.
Colorado School of Mines professor John Emerick spoke on behalf of Chaffee County Citizens for Sustainability. Emerick raised issues about a lack of information regarding hydrology, plant and bird species, and ability of the ecosystem to respond to water table fluctuations.
Nestlé spokesman Bruce Lauerman emphasized proposed water withdrawals amount to only .3 cubic feet per second, a small percentage of Arkansas River flow.
Lauerman indicated Nestlé has begun installing small monitoring wells to better understand groundwater characteristics at the site.
Jane Browning, a former fisheries biologist living in Howard, noted major gaps in Nestlé information and echoed Emerick's concerns.
"Without baseline studies," Browning said, "it's almost impossible to prove damage."
Joe Cogan, whose property abuts the Nestlé land, believes Nestlé would be better neighbor than a subdivision. Cogan explained the wetland area is fed mainly by recharge water from irrigation ditches.
Ed Burg of Salida noted worry because the Nestlé study was conducted in 2007 - one of the wettest years on record and an aberration in the regional drying trend.
Kathy Gray of Buena Vista pointed out Nestlé earned the Black Planet Award for 2007 in Germany while Joyce Fairchild of Salida questioned legality of the Nestlé proposal.
Sharon Miller emphasized the spirituality of water. "Bottling and selling the water for profit kills the water's spirituality," she said.
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