Water for Citizens of Weed, CA (WCWC)

While Water for Citizens of Weed, CA terminated our own website as part of its phase-out, our close ally W.A.T.E.R. has generously agreed to host an updated version of the WCWC website materials in order to preserve the historical record of the successful and inspiring campaign to protect the City of Weed's main source of drinking water from the international water bottling industry.   W.A.T.E.R. supported our efforts in many ways including writing and posting opinion pieces in support of the citizens of Weed, posting our press releases and opinion pieces on their social media and in e-newsletters, providing postage for informative mailings to Weed citizens, participating in and providing support for the demonstration at Roseburg Forest Products headquarters, and supporting legal efforts.

Welcome to the redesigned WCWC website. Please click on the menu items above to read about the History of our Campaign, a Summary of Beaughan Springs water rights, and a page about the WCWC organizers. The latest updates on our campaign follow below. Thank you!

Key to the unique vitality of the Shasta and upper Sacramento Rivers are the springs of Mount Shasta. Snow and rain falling high on the mountain percolate deep into the mountain, emerging, decades later, as springs thousands of feet below and even many miles away. This cold, pristine, mineral-rich spring water has long supported cold water dependent fish, such as salmon and trout, and has been essential to human livelihoods.

In recent decades the pristine spring water of Mount Shasta has been threatened by outside investors and the international water bottling industry, which sees this water as a commodity and an opportunity for profit-making. Communities around Mount Shasta have resisted this trend and successful fights against water bottling proposals having been waged by citizens in both McCloud and the City of Mt. Shasta.

A long and ultimately successful campaign has also taken place in the Shasta River basin, in the community of Weed. Beginning in 2016, the local grassroots community group, Water for Citizens of Weed California (WCWC), worked to defend their community’s pristine spring water source from an attempted takeover by Roseburg Forest Products and Crystal Geyser Roxane, two large, multimillion-dollar corporations with manufacturing operations in Weed.

The water in question, 2 cubic feet per second (cfs) from Beaughan Springs, a tributary to the Shasta River, was the community’s main source of drinking water since the early 1900s, and WCWC worked to protect that water right for the public trust. WCWC’s campaign included community outreach and education, media coverage, research into the legal issues surrounding the disputed water right, and direct actions—demonstrations, complaints to local regulatory agencies, and advocacy to public officials.  These actions put significant pressure on the corporations, which, in March, 2021, assented to an agreement with the City of Weed, by which Weed gained full ownership of the entire 2 cfs of disputed Beaughan Springs water in perpetuity.

Bob Hall at Beaughan Springs, 2017.
Photo by Jim Wilson/New York Times

In the process of advocating for the public right to water, WCWC and nine individual community members (the “Weed 9”) had to defend themselves from a ‘SLAPP’ (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) intimidation lawsuit initiated by Roseburg, a process that tied up WCWC resources for almost three years.

Latest Updates

Following the conclusion of the successful campaign to save Weed’s water and the end of the court challenges regarding the SLAPP suit against WCWC and nine individuals, WCWC closed out its activities with a community celebration and unveiling of a history display at the Weed Historic Lumber Town Museum on May 28, 2025. The display, titled, “A Tribute to Water,” recounts the one-hundred-year history of the City’s utilization of Beaughan Springs water including the story of the successful, decade-long struggle against the privatization of that important municipal water source. The display was commissioned and donated to the Museum by WCWC and created by local artist, Brenda Montaño.

Approximately 35 visitors and community members viewed the display, enjoyed refreshments and heard speeches given by WCWC President Jim Taylor and WCWC member Bruce Shoemaker who expressed joy for the group’s successes and gratitude for the many community supporters, volunteers, and donors. Brenda Montaño described her inspiration and process in creating the beautiful display.

The display ensures that the community’s victory in protecting the water as a public resource will not be forgotten and serves as testament to the power of communities that stand up for their rights.

A brochure that includes the text of the display is available here.

Brenda Montaño presents the “A Tribute to the Water” display she created for the Weed Historic Lumber Town Museum documenting the community’s successful struggle against the privatization of its important municipal water source.