Nestlé paid almost nothing to extract millions of gallons of public water while lobbying to stop water being declared a human right

When a corporation can extract a natural resource that sustains human life for less than the cost of a coffee, and simultaneously lobby to ensure that resource isn't recognized as a basic human right, the mechanics of power become impossible to ignore. This is exactly what Nestlé accomplished over the past two decades, operating largely outside public scrutiny until the evidence became undeniable.

The claim seemed almost too brazen to be true: Nestlé paid negligible amounts—sometimes as little as $200 annually—for permits to pump hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per minute from aquifers in Michigan, California, and Oregon. In Canada, the company paid just $3.71 per million litres. Meanwhile, the corporation generated billions in revenue by bottling and selling that same water back to consumers. The implicit accusation was that Nestlé had gamed a system designed to protect public resources, treating them instead as private inventory.

When challenged, Nestlé and the regulatory agencies involved defended the arrangement as standard practice. Water extraction permits, they explained, were historically priced low because water was considered abundant. The company argued it was simply following existing law and contributing to local economies through jobs and tax revenue. The framing positioned critics as unrealistic—water had to be cheap, they suggested, or development wouldn't happen.

But the Story of Stuff investigation and subsequent reporting by IBFAN revealed a more complete picture. The permit fees weren't just low; they were absurdly low relative to the scale of extraction and the value of what was being removed. In Michigan's case, Nestlé pumped water from the Great Lakes basin while local communities faced water restrictions. In California, the company continued operations during droughts that devastated agricultural regions. The math didn't add up unless the intent was extraction at minimal cost.

The smoking gun, however, wasn't just about permit fees. At the 2000 World Water Forum, Nestlé successfully lobbied to change the official designation of water from a "human right" to a "human need." The distinction matters profoundly. A human right is inalienable and universal. A human need can be commodified, rationed, and sold. Nestlé's chairman later called the concept of water as a human right "extreme"—a statement that inverts ordinary moral reasoning and reveals the corporate calculus underneath.