BOZEMAN — A citizen's movement in Bozeman aims to tackle what they say are the two biggest issues in Bozeman: water and affordability.

“We're providing a bit of a stick that will require affordable housing,” says WARD member Daniel Carty.

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A group of Bozeman residents created WARD, short for Water Adequacy for Residential Development, with the goal of changing the city code to see more affordable development.

“Residential developments that have three or more units will only be allowed to pay cash in lieu of water rights if they provide 33% or more of affordable units for rent or for sale,” says Carty.

The members of WARD argue that there has been too much luxury development and not enough affordable development.

“A lot of the prices for sale and for rent have not been affordable for most people,” says member Natsuki Nakamura.

Because of the limited supply of water, most developers pay the city. The group wants to limit the cash-in-lieu developers pay to the city.

“To use that option, then there would be a requirement to have affordable housing,” says Nakamura.

WARD members say they want to protect Bozeman's water while increasing the affordability of developments.

“The goal initiative is to conserve Bozeman's finite water supply and help provide affordable housing, for rent and for sale,” says Carty.

The group aims to have affordable rental units for people who make 60 percent of the area median income. For a single person in Bozeman that's about $45,000 annually. For someone looking to buy, they would need to earn around $91,000.

“So this is a way of attaching water adequacy to affordable housing and only allowing developments, to pay cash in lieu of water rights if they provide some affordable housing. That is a way that we can accomplish both goals,” says Carty.

WARD still needs approval from the Gallatin County elections office before its members can start collecting signatures. They need the support of 15% of registered voters in Bozeman to qualify for the November 2025 ballot.