groundwater pumping would harm a local trout stream—eventually

chased Nestlé out of the state. The company shifted its focus to

Michigan, where Nestlé built a plant and began bottling spring

water under the Ice Mountain brand name—only to be served with

a citizen lawsuit in that state. The lawsuit argued Nestlé’s ground-

water pumping was negatively affecting area lakes, rivers, and

springs. While key parts of that suit have been settled, the case

continues to work its way through the courts.

While that Nestlé suit was underway, company opponents

began arguing that sending bottled water out of state was actually a

diversion, and they pressured Michigan governor Jennifer

Granholm (elected in 2002) to ban bottled water sales outside the

Great Lakes Basin. These critics argued that if Nova’s proposal to

ship drinking water by tanker was a diversion, so was the export of

bottled water. In response, Nestlé—and others—argued that bot-

tling and selling water was not a diversion but was rather a “con-

sumptive use” that turned water into a product. They said that if

states prevent the sale of bottled water they would have to include

other water-based items in the ban as well, such as beer, soda—or

even potatoes (because agricultural crops consume water too). But

water-bottling opponents like Jim Olson, an environmental attor-

ney who has been battling Nestlé for years, argue that water be-

longs in a special category all its own and should not be mixed

together with value-added goods like fruit juice or a can of cherries.

Society has long recognized water’s special status, he argues, which

is why there are so many laws devoted to it. “There is no potato

law, or Coca-Cola law,” he says, “[but] there is water law.”

In May 2005, Governor Granholm took action in the debate.

She ordered a temporary moratorium on new or expanded water-

bottling operations in Michigan unless those operations certified

that their product would only be sold to customers inside the Great

Lakes Basin. In her directive the governor complained that Michi-

gan law “lacks clarity” on how the state should regulate water bot-

tlers, so she imposed the temporary moratorium until the legislature

enacted more comprehensive water laws. “Despite on-going debate

over whether or not bottled water for sale represents a diversion of

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