Cold Mountain Spring

Thanks to a bottled spring water emblazoned with its name, the peaceful hamlet of Idyllwild—a haven for artists, rock-climbers and retirees in the San Jacinto Mountains near Los Angeles—has become the site of one of the hottest water wars to roil the West. It all started about seven years ago when Paul Black began extracting, bottling and selling millions of gallons of water from a spring on his son's land bordered by Lily Creek, about one mile up the mountain from Idyllwild. As reported in the Idyllwild Town Crier in March 2003, Black's enterprise, Idyllwild Mountain Spring Waterworks (IMSW), went unnoticed for years until resident Chuck Stroud, out for a walk with his dog, questioned why the creek was running dry. What began as a trickle of an investigation developed into a dispute over the issue of water mining for commercial use on residentially zoned land.

It was found that waters from Black's spring, when allowed to drain naturally, had accounted for 11 percent of the Pine Cove Water District (PCWD) watershed. Citizens' committees in this high-desert climate, where forest fires are a constant threat, expressed concern over the impact the reduced watershed might have on the habitat and ecology downstream. They also worried about an increase in traffic hazards and air pollution due to the bottler's water trucks on the two-lane road used by school buses and commuters. "Three to five of Black's trucks a day hauled those gallons down our winding mountain road," says Idyllwild realtor Maggie Morphett. While residents faced water rate increases and restrictions due to drought, Riverside County officials reported that Black was collecting 28,000 gallons per day. At the moment, Black's business has been halted by Riverside County for violation of zoning codes.

To complicate matters further, the PCWD has offered to purchase Black's spring and wells—a move opposed by the local nonprofit Mountain Resources Conservancy (MRC), which has enlisted the help of the Western Environmental Law Center in Taos, New Mexico. And yet another bottling operation, in neighboring Garner Valley, is seeking to export water commercially. "We are not the only little mountain community fighting this. It happened in Big Bear and Devore and is happening in other places," says Olivia Redwine, president of MRC. She's right: By 2006, worldwide bottled water sales are expected to be over 37 billion gallons, up from 14.8 gallons in 1996. But upstream, change is in the works as citizen groups such as Idyllwild's defend their water sources.

For more information:

Western Water Alliance