Question

The state of maine has a law dealing with groundwater called absolute dominion. describe this law and how nestle uses it to their advantage

Answer 1

Absolute Dominion is the current law involving ground water in Maine, Indiana, and Texas which in effect states that the owner of the property has complete control over the groundwater underneath their property and may pump that water up without regard to causing shortages with neighbors. Basically, you can pump as much as you want without worry about legal repercussions. Contrast this to the "reasonable use" rule that's used in most of the rest of the United States. The reasonable use rule prohibits landowners from "wasting groundwater" or transporting the groundwater off their property for use elsewhere. Now, how does this affect Nestle? In Maine there was a company called "Poland Springs" which pumped out groundwater for drinking in the local community. This company was purchased in 1980 by Perrier which is based in France. And finally, in 1992, Nestle purchased Perrier. Under Absolute Dominion, Nestle has no limit on how much groundwater they can pump and export to other locations without regard to long term sustainability.