To the Sentinel:
Water is a human right, just as fresh air is a human right. Human beings expect that they can have free accesss to healthy lakes, rivers, and oceans. The front page article on June 13, “Bottler seeks to tap spring water in Gorge,” jolts Oregonians to do some research on the effects of such an action on rivers and lakes elsewhere — for example, on the Great Lakes. I encourage all readers of the Oregonian to search these articles on the Web: “Nestlé’s water pumping harmful to Michigan,” “Great Lakes for sale! Michigan’s Odawa Indians lead anti-Nestlé fight,” “Nestle blamed in Mich. water level battle,” “Nestlé Corp hurts the Great Lakes,” “Michigan Citizens for Water Conseration v. Nestlé Waters North America, Inc.” The 87-minute documentary movie, “Flow,” illustrates the effects on the lives of citizens, when their “free” water is bottled by corporations to make millions of dollars, not for the local people but for the company.

Sr. Cecilia Ranger
Portland