OPINION: Everyone should try to stop bottling plant

The entire Flathead Valley should be enraged by the ongoing effort by Lew Weaver and the Montana Artesian Water Company to steal our water out from under us.

As lovers of our beautiful valley, we, the residents, are charged with the responsibility to preserve this wonderful place for our children, grandchildren and generations to follow. As defenders of the constitutions of the United States and of the state of Montana, we should be outraged by yet another example of government overreach and a trampling of our hallowed property rights.

First, let me disabuse one of our state legislators who commented that Weaver had the right to do with his property what he desires. The water underlying the entire Flathead Valley does not belong to Weaver or any corporate backer who may be lying in the wings to pounce on this grand opportunity. The water underlying the valley is the property of ALL OF US, and specifically under the Montana Constitution this water is public property and the public policy of the state is to “provide for the wise utilization, development and conservation of the waters of the state for the maximum benefit of its people.”

The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, by haphazardly pushing this application through the state bureaucratic process, has not only trampled the property rights of all of Flathead Valley residents, but has violated the dictates of our own Constitution. Weaver may indeed have the right to do with his own property what he pleases; he may sell his land, dig up his dirt and sell that or build upon it. But he doesn’t have the right to drill down through it in order to steal from the aquifer that belongs to all of us.

Our government agency, the DNRC, has preliminarily decided to grant this company the right to take our water. What they didn’t do correctly in making this decision was to consider what the effects of drought periods might bring upon this resource. Remember last summer? June was the driest June on record here. We have many periods when we all sustain dry years which put a strain on our water supply.

Experts warn us that climate change may totally disrupt the patterns we historically have witnessed, and this could well mean that we will sustain horrible periods of drought. Remember the years following 2000? Very little snow accumulated in the mountains and many of the lakes in this area almost disappeared. Do you think that this may have caused a draw-down in the aquifer lying beneath us? Of course it did. But the DNRC didn’t seem to factor this into their decision, nor did they appear to factor in the huge commercial growth in the valley, which requires increased groundwater use.

And then, the coup de grace of government abuse: In order to voice an opinion opposing this water theft and trampling of our property rights, the DNRC required each citizen to pay $25 to oppose the permit application.

 Our county commissioners represent all of us. Contact them and encourage them to stop this raid on our public resource. We should all support any and all measures, whether countywide or statewide, to protect this resource. Some people have commented that this issue is essentially a Creston issue and others aren’t concerned with it. I submit that it is far wider in scope and affects the entire valley. For anyone who enjoys the lakes and rivers in the valley, this should be a real concern.

Our state legislators also have a responsibility to defend our constitutional rights. Contact them and encourage legislation that will prevent this attack on our public resource. To any skeptics who think that this may not be a big issue, remember the people of Flint, Michigan. The state and federal government there told the residents of Flint that their water was safe even though the naked eye could see that it was brown.

If you believe everything the DNRC or any of the state or federal agencies tells us about the viability of our water supply, think of the people of Flint. Let’s not turn the Flathead into another Flint!

Eychner is a Kalispell area resident.