Water Bottling Companies Sourcing From California Face Serious Criticism During Drought

California's extreme drought conditions have created emergency conditions on the western coast of the United States. Scientists say that California has less than a year of water supply left. With restrictions being imposed on restaurants and residents and the governor urging $10,000 fines against any violators, Californians are rightly angry at water bottling companies that continue to utilize their state's water resources. Already, thousands have signed petitions to get Nestlé to stop bottling water in California, and Starbucks, bowing to consumer pressure, has halted production of Ethos bottled water in the state.

The latest water bottling controversy comes from Walmart. Walmart brand bottled water, Great Value purified water, is allegedly sourced from the Sacramento municipal water supply, and angry California residents are urging Walmart to move their business elsewhere in order to conserve the state's most precious resource.

According to CBS, the city of Sacramento sells water to the Walmart bottling company for 99 cents per 748 gallons. For comparison, the average California family uses 417 gallons of water a day. Required residential water cuts in the Sacramento area are expected to climb as high as 36 percent.