By Kenzie T

Recently Nestle Waters applied for a permit that allows them to pump more water from one of their wells in Michigan, potentially impacting the Great Lakes.

Michigan Radio recently reported that Nestle Waters would like to increase the water pumped from the well in Evart, Michigan. The permit states that the company wants to go from pumping 150 gallons per minute to 400 gallons per minute. In order to pump more water, it is required for Nestle to get a permit from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

From THE Club, WLC’s environmental club, senior Caitlyn Kallabat said, “I don’t find it necessary that Nestle needs to pump more water. 250 gallons per minute is already a lot. 500 gallons per minute is too much, we should be conserving water.”

The public can weigh in on the decision of whether or not Nestle should be able to get the permit. The problem with this is no one heard of the decision until three days before the public comment period was going to end. Many people have asked for an extension to review the details for the permit.

Nestle Water and the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation have been fighting back and forth on this topic for years and the Michigan Citizens have already capped the amount Nestle could take from a well in 2009. Most people are against Nestle pumping more water and think it is unneeded because in 2015 Nestle got a permit that allowed them to go from 100 gallons per minute to 250 gallons.