WARD Ballot Initiative

The Water Adequacy Initiative will be voted on in November 2025.

Montana voters have a constitutional right to local ballot initiatives. Cottonwood is leading the charge in facilitating Bozeman voters’ exercise of that constitutional right. Cottonwood worked with local Bozeman residents to draft the local Water Adequacy/Residential Development (WARD) ballot initiative that addresses water supply and affordable housing, two of the most pressing issues facing Bozeman residents. Cottonwood members and volunteers collected more than 15% of registered Bozeman voters’ signatures to have the initiative placed on the November 2025 ballot. Under the Water Adequacy/Residential Development Initiative, developers wanting to use the City’s water supply when building developments of three units or more within city limits will have to provide at least 1/3 of those units at affordable prices. This is a revolutionary alternative to the current trickle-down economic housing system. Learn more here.

Cottonwood has previously helped a local Bozeman citizen group draft an initiative to regulate single-use plastics in Bozeman. This was the first ballot initiative in the United States to regulate single-use plastics and it passed by a 63% margin. Cottonwood is now preparing for a 2026 jury trial that will determine whether single use plastics infringe upon all Montanans’ right to a clean and healthful environment—a final obstacle before the initiative goes into effect and all local city governments can regulate single use plastics.