In a state still reeling from the Flint crisis the Swiss company would get nearly free access to pump 210m gallons a year for its bottled water business 
 
 Michigan regulators were deluged with angry comments this week, after reports that the state had drafted a permit approval for Nestlé to nearly double the amount of groundwater it pumps from a plant in Evart, Michigan to 210m gallons a year. 
 
 The pumping increase is only expected to cost the Swiss food giant $200 a year, and possibly the price of a permit fee, because its bottling plant in Evart is considered a private well under state law, regulators said. 
 
 In a statement, Nestlé touted the move as a boon to the state because it is created “some 20 new jobs”. The company is valued at $219bn. 
 
 Some local residents were not so enthusiastic. 
 
 “Why on earth would the state of Michigan, given our lack of money to address water matters of our own, like Flint, even consider giving MORE water for little or no cost to a foreign corporation with annual profits in the billions?” a man from Ada, Michigan wrote to regulators, who provided the message and others to the Guardian. 
 
 “Please do not attempt to justify giving away our resources for the ‘benefit’ of Nestlé adding 20 more jobs.” 
 
 The Nestlé plant at Evart is just 120 miles from Flint, where a recent move by public officials to save money by switching water sources caused lead to contaminate the city’s water. 
 
 Flint’s water is still not safe to drink without a filter and health have officials said bacterial illnesses are on the rise because residents fear bathing. Flint’s mayor is still lobbying Congress for cash to fix the city’s pipes. 
 
 “Please, please, please reconsider allowing Nestlé to pump additional gallons of water from their facility near Evart,” wrote a woman who identified herself as being from Newaygo, Michigan. “The rape of our Michigan inland fresh water sources is a cause for concern, especially when it is done by a private company for profit.” 
 
 Another commenter told regulators Nestlé “could literally suck the life out of the state”. 
 
 The company’s proposal to increase pumping from 150 gallons a minute to 400 gallons a minute from an aquifer underneath the plant is part of a planned $36m expansion of bottled water operations in Stanwood, Michigan. The company has already increased pumping to 250 gallons per minute, an increase for which no permit was required. 
 
 Water protection laws won't change until 2017 despite Flint crisis Read more 
 
 The additional water will be bottled under the Ice Mountain and Pure Life brands and distributed “throughout Michigan and the midwest”, according to a press release. 
 
 The company was sued by residents more than a decade ago, over a nearly identical permit. 
 
 In that case, Nestlé pumped 400 gallons of water per minute from a plant 30 miles south in Mecosta, Michigan. That rate is equal to around 576,000 gallons per day and 210 gallons per year. For a sense of scale, one million gallons is roughly the equivalent of a 267ft long, 50ft wide and 10ft deep swimming pool, according to the US Geological Survey. 
 
 In 2009, a settlement allowed Nestlé to pump 218 gallons of water a minute. 
 
 The lawyer who represented plaintiffs in that case, Jim Olson, criticized regulators for not giving the public more notice of the new proposal. 
 
 “We’ve seen an erosion of public notices and more internal official decisions,” Olson said. “That’s at the heart of the Flint water crisis, and now we have the same kind of institutionalized expediency here.” 
 
 Nestle bottled water operations spark protests amid California drought Read more 
 
 Michigan Live reported that the plan was first published by the Michigan department of environmental quality (MDEQ) last month, as part of its permit calendar. On Thursday, MDEQ officials extended the public comment period by 30 days and planned a public hearing. 
 
 A spokesperson for Nestlé Water North America, Christopher Rieck, said: “We appreciate that some people may have concerns … sustainability and water quality are top priorities for us as well. 
 
 “We are deepening our investment in Michigan to meet growing consumer demand. As we do so, we are committed to an open, transparent process that allows the public to share their views and learn more about our operations.” 

 Update, 12/8: Inside the Ice Mountain bottling plant 
 
 Update, 12/8: Why Nestle really needs more groundwater 
 
 Update, 11/22: DEQ overruled computer model that flunked Nestle water bid 
 
 Update, 11/22: DEQ pushes public review window into 2017 
 
 EVART, MI -- Swiss giant Nestle plans to significantly increase the amount of Michigan groundwater it pumps from under the state in conjunction with a $36 million dollar expansion of its Ice Mountain bottling plant. 
 
 Nestle Waters North America is asking the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for permission to increase allowed pumping from 150 to 400 gallons-per-minute at one of its production wells north of Evart. 
 
 The DEQ already issued a draft approval for the request in January and is accepting public comment on the proposal until Thursday, Nov. 3. 
 
 Nestle and the DEQ say an environmental review shows the aquifer can handle the more than doubled withdrawal and wont hurt the flow, levels or temperature of nearby surface waters, but a citizens group which previously fought Nestle over groundwater wants more scrutiny on the plan. 
 
 "It needs to be studied by all the best environmentalists, hydrologists and people acquainted with the science of where this water is actually coming from," said Jeff Ostahowski, vice president of the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation. 
 
 "There are many different hydrologists who can look at the same data and come up with different conclusions," he said. 
 
 The citizen group fought Nestle for years in court to reduce the company's allowed withdrawal; resulting in a 2009 settlement that reduced Nestle's Stanwood wells to an average of 218 gallons per minute, about 313,000 gallons per day, with restrictions on spring and summer withdrawals. 
 
 "The issue is the privatization of a critical resource," said Ostahowski, who objects to water bring diverted from watersheds that feed the Great Lakes. 
 
 "How much is too much?" 
 
 The group wasn't aware of Nestle's new plans until being contacted by MLive. The Nestle proposal was published last month in the DEQ Environmental Calendar, a bi-weekly clearinghouse for permitting decisions, new administrative rules and other official notices that is not widely read by the general public. 
 
 The DEQ Water Resources Division conducted a site review and signed-of on the pumping increase in January, but the Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance is approving the permit. 
 
 "The DEQ should have sent us this information," Ostahowski said. 
 
 The DEQ hasn't received any public comment on Nestle's proposal, according to Carrie Monosmith, environmental health chief in the drinking water office. 
 
 Nestle is the largest among handful of self-supplied water bottlers allowed to tap and sell Michigan groundwater. The company operates well fields in Mecosta and Osceola counties, and also sources water from the Evart municipal system. 
 
 Between 2005 and 2015, the company withdrew more than 3.4 billion gallons of water from its three well fields, according to state DEQ data. 
 
 Nestle could pump up to 576,000 gallons-per-day, (about 210 million gallons-per-year), under the proposed increase on White Pine Springs well No. 101 in Osceola Township. The well, built in 2001, is located southwest of the 9 Mile Road and 100th Avenue intersection, about 1,700 feet north of the headwaters of Chippewa Creek and about two-and-a-half miles east of Twin Creek. Both are coldwater trout stream tributaries of the Muskegon River. 
 
 The well is connected by pipeline to a loading station near US-10 in Evart, where the water is then trucked to the Stanwood bottling plant. A booster station along the pipeline would be built to aid the increased withdrawal. 
 
 In its proposal, Nestle claims average water levels in Twin and Chippewa creeks would "decline only minimally" from the increased pumping and wouldn't exceed what might be expected from natural stream stage variability. 
 
 According to the proposal, "an incremental effect of the proposed increased withdrawal on wetland water levels may occur in five wetlands, but is not expected to cause adverse ecological effects. Observations of these wetlands did not find the presence of any threatened or endangered species." 
 
 Nestle already increased the well's daily pumping rate in 2015 and earlier this year, but needs DEQ drinking water office approval to max out the withdrawal capacity under the Section 17 of the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). 
 
 Nestle is adding two new bottling lines and 80,000-square feet of production space to its 746,000 square-foot Stanwood plant. 
 
 Growth of the facility and the U.S. market for bottled water in general is driving the bid for more Michigan groundwater, say company representatives. 
 
 5 factors driving water use in Michigan 
 
 According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, the U.S. consumed more than $14.2 billion, in wholesale dollars, worth of bottled water in 2015. Total bottled water volume grew to nearly 12 billion gallons. 
 
 Bottled water is the leading growth category in the domestic beverage market, with a U.S. per capita consumption average of 36.7 gallons per person last year, according to the trade group. Product marketing and advertising frames bottled water as a healthy alternative to sugary drinks. 
 
 The market potential led Nestle to Michigan, where the company owns wells that tap underground springs that feed iconic Michigan rivers. Michigan law allows any private property owner to withdraw from the aquifer under their property for free, subject only to a nominal $200 annual paperwork fee. 
 
 The interstate Great Lakes compact prohibits water diversions outside of the Great Lakes basin, but a bottling exemption within the law allows water to be sold outside the region if it's shipped in bottles smaller than 5.7 gallons. 
 
 In Stanwood, Nestle is expanding its Ice Mountain Natural Spring Water and Pure Life brand products. Construction began this month. The first new line is schedule to begin operation next year and the second will open in 2018. 
 
 The company employs 250 people in Stanwood and said the expansion would add more than 20 new jobs. Nestle says water bottled in Stanwood is distributed in Michigan and the Midwest. 
 
 To comment on the Nestle capacity increase, email Carrie Monosmith at deq-eh@michigan.gov, or send mail to Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance, P.O. Box 30241, Lansing, Michigan 48909-7741. Comments must be received by Nov. 3.
– Nestle is facing a backlash in Michigan over its plans to massively expand the amount of groundwater it pumps from the state—and pay less than $1 per million gallons. The company wants to more than double what it pumps from its plant in Evart to 210 million gallons a year, which will cost it just $200 per year because state law considers the plant to be a private well, the Guardian reports. Angry residents have written to state regulators complaining about the plan to expand operations at the plant, which is 120 miles from Flint, where tap water is still unsafe to drink. Nestle argues that the aquifer can handle the increased withdrawal and that the $36 million project will create 20 jobs. MLive.com reports that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality issued a draft approval for the request and has been asking for public comment. "Why on Earth would the state of Michigan, given our lack of money to address water matters of our own, like Flint, even consider giving MORE water for little or no cost to a foreign corporation with annual profits in the billions?" an Ada resident wrote to regulators. Other critics, including the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation group, say they want outside experts to look at Nestle's claim that the increased pumping won't affect surface waters in the area. (In California, Nestle bottled water during a drought with a long-expired permit.)