Ontario is chock-full of water. The province's lakes, streams, and aquifers are so abundant that it may feel like it'll never run out, and until recently, the province was giving water away to private companies for just fractions of pennies on the liter.
NestléWaters Canada has been pumping groundwater from its Aberfoyle site near Guelph, Ontario since 1980, for the purpose of bottling it for sale. The company has a permit to take more than 3 million litres of water every day from that one site, but it has historically taken just about half of the allowed amount annually.
So what would happen, environmentally speaking, if Nestlé consistently took all the water it's allowed to by the Ontario government? That question has taken on a new sense of urgency, as the province reviews the company's permit for renewal, and local activists and legislators are raising concerns about the company's effects on the local water supply.
Read more on Motherboard
Advertisement