Over the past 20 years, F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co. has sold almost 1,200 acres of its land for development in areas adjacent to the proposed Haskill Basin conservation easement.

More than half of Whitefish Mountain Resort and Iron Horse and Lookout Ridge subdivisions consist of former Stoltze-owned lands, and according to the city of Whitefish, the 3,000 acre easement could be legally subdivided into as many as 200 additional lots.

According to City Manager Chuck Stearns, the retirement of those development rights provided in the easement would permanently protect Whitefish’s primary source of drinking water.

“The primary impetus of [the easement] would be to protect the watershed,” Stearns told the Pilot. “It would protect the water quality from potential development that might impact the water through runoff from roads or septic leachate entering the water.”

Whitefish gets its water from Second and Third creeks in Haskill Basin, and from Whitefish Lake. The city also holds water rights for First Creek, but use on the creek was abandoned in the 1970s because of contamination.

Stearns said its important to preserve the quality of the water in Haskill Creek because drawing more water from the lake could have an impact on lake levels and increase the city’s operating costs for water.

Cost to draw from solely from the lake would increase the city’s operating costs for its water treatment plant, likely resulting in an increase of 20 percent to monthly water rates.

Currently, the city pulls about 75 percent of its water from Haskill Basin. It also blends water from the lake into the water supply.

The city estimates that if it was forced to only draw water from the lake, it would result in a $500,000 increase in annual operational costs.

It costs more to draw from the lake because the water has more organics that must be treated, and it also requires additional energy to pump it to the treatment facility.

The conservation easement would also provide permanent protection for physical access to the creeks, the city notes. Despite holding water rights, the city has limited legal rights to access.

The city does not have a legal easement for the water lines between First, Second and Third creeks. There is no easement to maintain the diversion structure on Second, and the intake on Third Creek is not owned by the city of Whitefish.

Stearns said Stoltze has always been a good neighbor by allowing the city to use its roads for access to the creeks, but a legal easement needs to be finalized to protect future access.

“They have always treated the city well and for the last 100 years there has never been a problem,” Stearns said. “But they could sell the property. We’re not at risk currently of losing access, but we want to formalize so we have legal rights to access.”