Climate Point: Why the future of Arrowhead bottled water might depend on 1909 train cars

Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and the environment. I’m Erin Rode, writing from Palm Springs, California. 

I spent last week watching more than 25 hours of a public hearing on the future of Arrowhead bottled water, which BlueTriton Brands (formerly Nestlé Waters North America) produces with water it diverts from San Bernardino National Forest. The Desert Sun has covered Arrowhead and the bottling company’s expired Forest Service special use permit for years, but last week’s State Water Resources Control Board’s Administrative Hearings Office hearing focused on whether BlueTriton holds valid water rights for the millions of gallons of water it uses from the national forest. 

Because BlueTriton claims to have a pre-1914 water right, the amount of water it's allowed to take is based on how much water a predecessor company was diverting prior to 1914. And a 1909 contract stipulated that BlueTriton's predecessor company would deliver seven train cars a week of water to a bottling facility in Los Angeles.

But the two sides disagree on how much water a 1909 train car could hold. BlueTriton says they were big enough to carry approximately 15,000 gallons of water each, and investigators with the State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Water Rights say the train cars could actually only hold about 6,500 gallons of water. Both sides are relying on historical news articles, photos, and other documents that are more than a century old to make their case. 

The hearing isn’t over yet — it continues on Jan. 31 with testimony from some of the members of the public who first drew attention to the company’s water use in the national forest. 

In the meantime, here's more environment and climate stories from this week: 

Must-read stories

Turning tides. For more than 300 years, the Gullah and Geechee people have lived in the coastal areas and sea islands of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, in what is now the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. The Gullah Geechee community is made up of descendants of West Africans brought to the region for their expertise in rice and indigo cultivation during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Zoe Nicholson reports for the Savannah Morning News and USA Today.

After the Civil War, plantation owners abandoned the land, thinking the formerly enslaved Gullah and Geechee people would perish. Instead, they made it their home, and now they’re fighting the dual threats of outsiders who want to develop their land, and rising sea levels that threaten to submerge the islands. In Hog Hammock on Sapelo Island, Georgia, resident Maurice Bailey estimates that 90% of the community has been sold to outsiders. Development in the area further exacerbates sea level rise — grading promotes erosion, for example. 

Lead contamination. In 2017, Yvette Cabrera published an investigation that found hazardous levels of lead in the soil in neighborhoods across Santa Ana, a city of 335,000 people in Orange County, California, that is more than 75% Latino. In a follow-up investigation for Grist, Cabrera conducted hundreds of soil tests in 2018 and 2019 in Santa Ana neighborhoods that carried the burden of the city's industrialization, like the Logan barrio. More than half of those tests found lead levels that the state of California considers unsafe for children, Cabrera found. 

Cabrera documents how a century of decision-making from city leaders left toxic pollutants in the soil, including when the city zoned the already-established residential neighborhood of Logan for industrial use. Products like petroleum, heavy metals, and lead ore traveled through the area on railroad lines, leaving contamination in the soil. 

Reducing emissions 

Going nuclear. As U.S. states work to reduce their use of fossil fuels, many are turning to nuclear power to fill the gap as they move from coal, oil, and natural gas to solar, wind, and other renewable power sources, Jennifer McDermott reports for the Associated Press. An Associated Press survey of energy policies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia found that two-thirds say nuclear will help take the place of fossil fuels. 

“At this point in time, I don’t see a path that gets us there without preserving the existing fleet and building new nuclear,” said Jeff Lyash, president and CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federally owned utility. “And that’s after having maximized the amount of solar we can build in the system.”

Wanted: Electric vans. Amazon has “an insatiable appetite” for electric vans, Karen Weise and Neal E. Boudette write for the New York Times, as the e-commerce giant juggles its expanding delivery operations and a pledge that half of its deliveries will be carbon-neutral by 2030. By 2040, the company is pledging to be net-carbon-neutral, an effort that will require the company to quickly transition to a fleet of electric delivery vehicles. Amazon ordered 100,000 electric vehicles from start-up Rivian in 2019, but automakers are struggling to manufacture commercial electric vehicles at scale as heavier loads complicate technology challenges. 

Exxon eyes net-zero. Exxon Mobil announced Tuesday that it has the “ambition” to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 2050, Clifford Krauss reported for the New York Times. But the largest oil company in the United States still remains behind several major competitors in its climate commitments. Exxon’s targets include “Scope 1 emissions,” which are emissions produced directly by the company, and “Scope 2 emissions,” from the generation of power Exxon buys, but notably leaves out “Scope 3 emissions,” which come from the combustion of fuels from drivers and represent the majority of emissions linked to companies. 

Hot takes

Rising temperatures. The first nationwide study on the effects of rising temperatures on children found that hotter days were associated with more emergency room visits. New York Times

Tsunami waves. How the Tongan volcano eruption sent shock waves rippling around the world. USA Today

‘Black gold.’ A start-up in Tennessee is capturing carbon dioxide from a power plant and using it to make nanotubes, which could be used to make items like batteries and tires. Knoxville News Sentinel

Damage wind turbines. An Oklahoma wind farm operator was cleared from safety concerns after the Oklahoman reported extensive damage there last June, including broken blades and buried cables that posed a public safety threat. The Oklahoman  

And another thing

Safe crossing. Black bears are being killed in record numbers on California highways, Louis Sahagún reports for the Los Angeles Times. Last year’s spike in deadly vehicle strikes is likely the result of bears fleeing fires in the Sierra Nevada, which destroyed nearly 2 million acres of habitat between July and October. The effects of drought also likely played a role, as bears move to lower elevation in search of food and end up in closer contact with humans. Last year, 13 bears were struck by vehicles and killed along California’s Highway 395.  In 2019, four bears were reported killed along the highway, and in 2020, no dead bears were reported. 

As a potential solution, Caltrans is leading a consortium of agencies that plan to construct a $17 million network of safe passages near the intersection of 395 and State Route 203.

That's all for this week. Stay in touch @RodeErin on Twitter or via email at erin.rode@desertsun.com, and you can sign up to get Climate Point in your inbox for free here.