SPRINGFIELD — A group of Northern California residents sued by Roseburg Forest Products plans to protest outside the company's Springfield headquarters Tuesday.

The group of nine Weed, Calif., residents are fighting what Roseburg Forest Products considers its water rights to the Beaughan Springs, the main source of drinking water for the town of about 2,700 residents north of Redding.

Roseburg Forest Products sued the nine residents, the city of Weed and the local organization Water for the Citizens of Weed in May 2017, requesting a Siskiyou County Superior Court Judge clarify the water dispute and claiming the defendants were infringing on the company's water right.

But the city and residents have argued that a nearly century-old judgment guarantees a portion of the water for public use — a message they plan to take to Springfield on Tuesday. Roseburg Forest Products sells some of the water to the Crystal Geyser bottled water company, which is eager to tap into more of the springs.

"It seems like it's a war of attrition, where they're trying to wear the city down," said Bruce Shoemaker, one of the town residents sued by Roseburg Forest Products.

A Roseburg Forest Products spokeswoman didn't return messages seeking comment Friday. The company acquired the property that the springs sits on from International Paper Co. in 1982, and it has claimed the land ownership gives it the absolute right to the springs water.

Town residents such as Shoemaker disagree. Late last year a Superior Court judge in Siskiyou County dismissed Roseburg Forest Products' lawsuit against the residents and Water for the Citizens of Weed, while maintaining the suit against the city. The judge ruled the residents and citizen group couldn't be sued for exercising their First Amendment rights.

But Roseburg Forest Products has appealed that dismissal to a state appellate court, Shoemaker said.

"We're asking them to drop their pursuit of the city's water," he said. The Beaughan Springs water "has been historically used by the people of Weed, and (International Paper) intended to give it to the city."

Follow Elon Glucklich on Twitter @EGlucklich. Email elon.glucklich@registerguard.com.