Beneath the surface

But since early in 2016, the neighbors have emerged as central figures in the Creston community’s divisive — and often emotional — fight over Weaver’s proposal to develop a water-bottling plant in the middle of the rural landscape bordering Egan Slough.

In November 2015, a well-drilling rig appeared on Weaver’s property, where cattle graze and rows of hay, wheat and barley grow in the fields. In a part of the valley known for its plentiful groundwater and artesian, or free-flowing, springs and wells, that was hardly unusual.

Weaver informed them that he was planning a small start-up business, the Montana Artesian Water Co., that would withdraw, bottle and sell about 30 or so gallons of well water per minute — a rate consistent with most domestic uses in the area.

"No one saw that as a threat or wanted to tell them what to do with their own land," Harvey says.

By SAM WILSON Daily Inter Lake

Full Story: http://www.dailyinterlake.com/article/20170709/ARTICLE/170709896