Nestle extracted 36 million gallons of water from a national forest in California last year to sell as bottled water, even as Californians were ordered to cut their water use because of a historic drought in the state.

And the permit that Nestle uses to operate its water pipeline in the San Bernardino national forest costs just $524 (£357) a year. That rankles with some residents and environmental groups, who want the US government to cut off Nestle’s access to the water until an environmental study can be conducted.