Bottled water fights move west

Bottled water fights have played a major role in water policy debates in Midwestern and Eastern states for almost a decade now, and the trend is moving west.  As featured in this story from the Los Angeles Times, Out West, A New Kind of Water War, Nestle seems to have a brewing battle over its plan to pump water from the Arkansas River watershed near Salida, Colorado.  While there are significant differences in eastern and western water law, the nature of the opposition and the issues raised are basically the same in rural towns everywhere.  The resulting legal battles rarely lead to a clear winner, but almost always highlight the need to reform state water law.