Bottled drinking water is an $11 Billion per year US industry, and the withdrawal of water has been referred to as a “Blue gold rush.” With impacts to local water supplies and quality of life looming, citizens groups are challenging the right of corporate water companies such as Nestle to withdraw drinking water from local supplies. In March 2006, Barnstead, New Hampshire, (population 4,800) passed a law banning corporations from mining and selling town water. The law also purports to strip corporations of their constitutional power and authority. Corporate Watchdog Radio cohost Sanford Lewis interviews Ruth Caplan, chair of Sierra Club’s project on water privatization.

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