May, 2018
Elora is one of the main battlefields of the water war fought between the citizens of Ontario, the largest of the Canadian provinces, and Big Water, the water industry players. From 1 January 2019 Nestlé Water Canada, the local waters division of the Swiss multinational, will begin to extract 1.6 million liters of water a day from the Middlebrook well, acquired in 2016, less than a mile from Elora. It will be the third mega-well in the area along with Aberfolyle and Erin. A business not just for Nestlé. Meantime located about four hours north of Detroit and with a population of just 900, Osceola Township opposes granting Nestlé a permit to build a pumping booster station along a water pipeline that feeds a tanker load dock in Evart, another small town nearby and where residents complain the Swiss company's water extraction techniques are ruining the environment. The booster station would help the company pump more water from a controversial Osceola County wellhead if the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality approves the project. Nestle wants to pump 400 gallons of water a minute, up from the 250 a minute currently.
Portraits of residents and volunteers, in Ontario and Michingan, fighting the battle against Nestlé.
