KALISPELL – Flathead Valley voters overwhelmingly passed the Egan Slough Zoning Initiative on Tuesday.
The measure could put a halt to the proposed Montana Artesian Water Company bottling plant in Creston. The zoning district was created in 2002 to maintain the agricultural nature of the area.
Landowners approached Flathead County Commissioners in 2016 to expand the zoning district in response to landowner Lew Weaver’s plans to build the company.
The plant has a permit to pull about 230 million gallons annually from the aquifer in the Egan Slough Area. But now the zoning commission will be charged with determining whether or not the water bottling plant fits within the eligible uses of the land.
A grassroots group is appealing the state’s water use permit.
