The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has agreed to trade its water rights at Oxbow Springs to pave the way for a Nestle bottled water plant in Cascade Locks.

Cascade Locks City Administrator Gordon Zimmerman said the city and the state wildlife agency jointly submitted paperwork Friday morning to initiate a water rights cross transfer, with the state trading spring water for the city's well water.

The Columbia River Gorge city will then pass the spring water on to Nestle, which will bottle and sell it.

Nestle's proposal to bottle 100 million gallons of Oxbow Springs water annually for sale throughout the Northwest has been controversial, with multiple environmental organizations, public health groups and unions protesting the deal.

The plan is complicated. Cascade Locks doesn't own the right to draw water from Oxbow Springs; ODFW does, and uses it to feed a fish hatchery. So, in order to sell spring water to Nestle, Cascade Locks must first get access to the spring.

Controversy over the plant - mostly rooted in concerns about the environmental impact of bottled water as well as skepticism about the company's plan to sell an essential resource for hundreds of times the price it costs to draw from the tap -- has stalled plans since Nestle first arrived in town in 2008.

The water rights cross transfer is an attempt to speed up the process. Unlike a previous plan to trade water gallon-for-gallon, swapping rights to the water eliminates state regulators' need to consider public interest when deciding whether to approve the trade.

Once The Oregon Water Resources Department processes the applications from Cascade Locks and ODFW, a 30-day public comment period will ensue. After that, the Oregon Water Resources Department will consider the application and issue a preliminary decision. The public will have another chance to comment before a final decision is made.

Zimmerman said he anticipates a yearlong wait before the deal goes through.

"This starts us down the road," Zimmerman said. "I'm sure there'll be opposition, but it narrows the scope of opposition."

Those who oppose the deal have said they plan to put up a fight. Since taking office in February, activists from Portland-based environmental group Bark have sent Gov. Kate Brown's office more than 2,000 letters protesting the Nestle plant.

"For an incoming governor who is hearing with that level of volume from her constituents, it's extremely disappointing to see her sit by while her agency moves forward with such an unpopular proposal," said Alex Brown, Bark's executive director.

--Kelly House