The boss of Nestlé Waters has said the company wants to increase the amount of water it bottles in California despite a devastating drought across the state that has triggered demonstrations at the corporation’s bottling plant.



Tim Brown, chief executive of Nestlé Waters North America, said the company would “absolutely not” stop bottling in California and would actually like to “increase” the amount of ground source water it uses.



Asked in a local radio interview if Nestlé would consider following Starbucks’ lead and stop bottling water in California during the drought, Brown said: “Absolutely not. In fact, if I could increase it, I would.



“The fact is, if I stop bottling water tomorrow, people would buy another brand of bottled water,” Brown said in a discussion with a Nasa hydrologist on 89.3 KPCC radio. “People need to hydrate. As the second largest bottler in the state, we’re filling a role many others are filling. It’s driven by consumer demand, it’s driven by an on-the-go society that needs to hydrate. Frankly, we’re very happy they are doing it in a healthier way.”

Brown admitted that Nestlé currently wastes about 30% of the 700m gallons of water a year it draws from the ground in California. On Tuesday, the company announced plans to reduce water waste at its bottling plants in Bakersfield and Tulare by 12%.



More than 82,000 people have signed a petition calling on Nestlé to stop bottling from a spring in southern California, and protesters armed with plastic pitchforks have blocked the entrance to a Nestlé plant in Sacramento.



Despite the protests, Brown said: “We feel good about what we’re doing delivering healthy hydrating to people throughout the state of California.”



Starbucks has announced plans to stop sourcing its bottled water from California after embarrassing revelations that its “water conservation” Ethos brand bottled water was sourced from the drought-stricken state.



“It seems hard to imagine, but more than 1bn people on our planet can’t get clean water to drink,” Starbucks says on its website. “Ethos® Water was created to help raise awareness about this terrible crisis and provide children with access to clean water.” Five cents from the sale of each Ethos bottle, which costs about $2, goes towards Starbucks’ Ethos Water Fund supporting water, sanitation and hygiene education programs across the world.



The company said it would move Ethos production to Pennsylvania for the duration of the drought. “We are committed to our mission to be a globally responsible company and to support the people of the state of California as they face this unprecedented drought,” John Kelly, Starbucks’ senior vice-president of global responsibility and public policy, said last week.

Walmart, which also bottles water in California, has refused to move its production out of the state. “The drought in California is very concerning for many of our customers and our associates,” a spokesman said. “We share those concerns and are tracking it closely. Our commitment to sustainability includes efforts to minimize water use in our facilities. We have and continue to work with our suppliers to act responsibly while meeting the needs of customers who count on us across California.”



Sustainability charity Food & Water Watch has called for a moratorium on all water bottling across the state. “It’s the worst drought we’ve seen in a long time, and it’s irresponsible of the state to allow Nestlé to bottle water that’s supposed to be a public resource,” a spokesman said. “We’re calling for a moratorium on bottling water for private profit.”

