I am writing to urge all voters in Flathead County to vote FOR enactment of Resolution 1594C to add property to the Egan Slough Zoning District. Initiative 17-01 would add 530 acres of farmland (presently unprotected) into the now existing Egan Slough Zoning District FOR protection – keeping this area in its agricultural uses. It would also protect the water, lakes, and fish from the negative impacts of the water bottling plant. It has been estimated that the water bottling plant will draw down the water from 2,000 wells in the surrounding area. This drawdown could even reach wells within Kalispell. There will be many families that will have to drill new wells at their own expense. The citizens of Flathead County have a right to protect their wells, and all citizens of Flathead County have a right to protect our surface waters.
The permit given to the water bottling plant would allow operations to continue 24/7, 365 days a year pumping more than 230 million gallons of water annually from our aquifers, bottling it, and sending it out of state. The carcinogenic residue from the manufacture of the plastic bottles would enter Flathead River and from there into Flathead Lake. This poisoning of Flathead River and Flathead Lake must be stopped. Our priceless fisheries are in jeopardy. Flathead Lake’s clean water is at stake. Our tourist industry would be adversely affected, and property values around the Lake would take a terrible hit.
No one has a right to sell our water. The county commissioners and state agencies chose not to listen to the citizens of Flathead Country or to the expert witnesses and their testimonies. It is now up to the voters safeguard Flathead County. No one should have to suffer for one man’s greed; certainly not the entire Flathead Valley.
Christina Granrud
Kalispell