SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Wal-Mart is facing questions tonight after CBS13 learns the company draws its bottled water from a Sacramento water district during California’s drought. 
 
 According to the label, the water comes from the Sacramento Municipal Water Supply. This comes on the heels of Starbucks opting to move sourcing and production of its Ethos bottled water from California to Pennsylvania. 
 
 While the label reads Great Value, the fine print reveals the bottled water is anything but a deal, especially for Sacramento residents. 
 
 “Either they were unaware, uninformed or unintentionally did this,” said public relations expert Doug Elmets. “It could be all three of those. Whatever it is, it’s a bad move and they need to correct it and they need to do it quickly.” 
 
 RELATED: Visit California Drought Desk for complete drought coverage 
 
 According to its own labeling, the water in the gallon jugs appears to come from Sacramento’s water supply. 
 
 Sacramento sells water to a bottler, DS Services of America, at 99 cents for every 748 gallons—the same rate as other commercial and residential customers. That water is then bottled and sold at Walmart for 88 cents per gallon, meaning that $1 of water from Sacramento turns into $658.24 for Walmart and DS Services. 
 
 For comparison, the city of Sacramento says the average family uses 417 gallons of water a day. 
 
 Elmets wonders if this perfectly legal business operation will get a big thumbs-down from California consumers. This comes as Sacramento-area water districts are preparing to enforce residential water-use cuts as high as 36 percent. 
 
 “It’s certainly leaving a bad taste in everyone’s mouth when you can’t fill up a swimming pool, if you’re building a new home in West Sacramento; you can’t water your lawn if you’re living in this region. And to find out they’re making a huge profit off of this, it’s just not right,” Elmets said. 
 
 RELATED: Simple Water-Saving Tips 
 
 He says Wal-Mart should take a page out of Starbucks’ game plan. The coffee giant moved production of Ethos bottled water after news its water was pumped out of Placer County and bottled in Merced. 
 
 “The reaction should be immediate. And that is to find another supplier outside of California that can be able to meet the needs that they have and also the needs of the consumer,” he said. 
 
 Wal-Mart sent a statement reading in part, “We have and continue to work with our suppliers to act responsibly while meeting the needs of customers who count on us across California.” 
 
 CBS13 contacted the Sacramento water district on Friday, but were told its media specialist will get back to us next week. 

 Bay Area & State Crystal Geyser to tap Siskiyou County groundwater 
 
 Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Shara Fish of Mount Shasta carries bottles filled with spring water from the headwaters of the Sacramento River in Mount Shasta, Calif., on Tues. April 28, 2015. Crystal Geyser is opening a bottling plant nearby without any environmental review or limits at a time when everyone else in the state is being asked to drastically cut water use. California's non-existent laws on groundwater use allow this. Shara Fish of Mount Shasta carries bottles filled with spring water... 
 
 A private water bottling company will soon be sucking up thousands of gallons a day from an aquifer that feeds the Sacramento River, the primary source of drinking water for millions of thirsty Californians struggling to cope with a four-year drought. 

 Residents who have faced increased water use limits amid fourth year of drought push for greater regulation of water-bottling industry 
 
 Walmart is the latest company found to be sourcing its bottled water from drought-stricken California, as state residents push for greater regulation of the bottling industry. 
 
 
 
 Starbucks was moved to alter its bottling practices in California last week and Mount Shasta community members are fighting the opening of a major bottling plant by California-based company Crystal Geyser. Then on Friday, an investigation by CBS13 in Sacramento found that Walmart’s bottled water comes from the Sacramento municipal water supply. 
 
 The revelations come as state residents face increased water use limits during the fourth year of drought in the state. State governor Jerry Brown signed an executive order last week that calls for a 25% urban water reduction across the state. 
 
 “It’s only logical that as the governor has asked all Californians to reduce their water consumption that he holds extractive industries like bottled water companies to the same standard, yet he hasn’t asked anything of them,” said Adam Scow, the California director of Food & Water Watch, which is calling for a moratorium on bottling water. 
 
 There is little oversight or monitoring of bottling plants in the state, which are also operated by major corporations including Nestle, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. 
 
 About 1% of state water is used in industry, and the bottling industry represents an even smaller fraction of that, according to the US Geological Survey. 
 
 Walmart, like other large companies, draws water from municipal supplies to keep costs down. A Walmart spokesperson said that the company is “very concerned” about how the drought is affecting its customers and associates. 
 
 “We share those concerns and are tracking it closely,” the spokesperson said. “Our commitment to sustainability includes efforts to minimize water use in our facilities. We have and continue to work with our suppliers to act responsibly while meeting the needs of customers who count on us across California.” 
 
 Starbucks was pushed to stop sourcing its Ethos bottled water from California after Mother Jones discovered that it had been drawing water from Placer County. Starbucks said it would move production to a supplier in Pennsylvania over the next six months. It is also looking for alternative suppliers for its west coast distribution. 
 
 “At the end of the day, bottling the public’s water for private profit is not in the public interest,” said Scow. 
 
 He said the practice has a negative effect on local watersheds, that the oil and energy used to make plastic bottles and transport them across the nation are harmful to the environment and that there is a huge waste problem with plastic bottle disposal. 
 
 Crystal Geyser, a bottled water company headquartered in San Francisco, announced it is opening a new plant near Mount Shasta, which feeds water into the Sacramento River. The company does not need to obtain a permit to draw the water and there is not a requirement to conduct an environmental impact report. 
 
 Raven Stevens, community liaison for the Gateway Neighborhood Association, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the top concern is that there is little regulation for bottling plants. 
 
 “Crystal Geyser in one day plans to pump more water than any three of my neighbors will use in an entire year,” Stevens said. “The entire state is under a 25% cut, farmers are letting fields go fallow and we don’t have one piece of legislation regulating water bottling.”
– First Starbucks, now Walmart is awash in complaints about its bottled water operation in Sacramento, which has been hard-hit by conservation measures amid California's drought. CBS13 reports the company's Great Value brand water comes from the Sacramento Municipal Water Supply and is sold to bottler DS Services of America at 99 cents per 748 gallons before it lands on Walmart's shelves with a price tag of 88 cents per gallon, earning the two companies $658.24 for those 748 gallons. Walmart tells the Guardian it is "very concerned" about the drought, but "our commitment to sustainability includes efforts to minimize water use in our facilities. We continue to work with our suppliers to act responsibly while meeting the needs of customers." Still, the transaction is "certainly leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth," a PR expert says. "You can't water your lawn if you're living in this region. And to find out they're making a huge profit off of this, it's just not right." Though the US Geological Survey notes the bottling industry uses less than 1% of state water, some say the plants aren't properly monitored. "The entire state is under a 25% cut, farmers are letting fields go fallow, and we don't have one piece of legislation regulating water bottling," a rep for the Gateway Neighborhood Association tells the San Francisco Chronicle. Residents of Mount Shasta are now campaigning against a planned bottled water plant from Crystal Geyser, which doesn't need to submit an environmental impact report or a permit to tap the area's water. (Former workers are peeved at Walmart, too.)