Bottled-water giant Perrier will continue seeking wells in central Wisconsin but has abandoned its plans to tap the sensitive Mecan River Springs, a company official said Wednesday.

The company withdrew its plans to tap the springs after local residents and environmentalists raised concerns about drilling on state-owned land and potentially diminished flows to the Mecan River, a cold, clear stream in Waushara County that harbors trout.

But Perrier will continue to investigate whether high-capacity wells can be safely operated in the same general area, said Mary Lazgin, a Perrier spokeswoman.  She identified possible sites as being in Adams, Marquette and Waushara counties.

However, she declined to identify specific sites, citing, among other reasons, negotiations for real estate, safe yields from springs and the source of labor for a bottling plant.  A bottler must prove that its well is connected to the aquifer that supports a specific spring to take the name of that body of water as its source.

"We're still looking," she said.

She added that the well would likely be "paired" with a nearby bottling plant.  Perrier anticipates the plant would employ 45 workers initially and possibly as many as 250.  The jobs would pay $10 to $18 per hour.

In addition, Perrier is looking at potential sources in Michigan.  A decision on a Midwest operation is expected in May, Lazgin said.

The water tapped would be bottled under Perrier's Ice Mountain brand name.

The food-giant Nestle, based in Switzerland, is Perrier's parent company.

State officials indicated Wednesday that they would have limited ability to regulate a well for a bottling plant located on private land.

The guiding principle for granting a permit to operate a high-capacity well is whether it affects a public drinking water system, said Franc Fennessy, executive assistant to the state Department of Natural Resources secretary.

Granting a permit would not necessarily trigger more extensive environmental studies on the impact of such a
well, Fennessy said.

"Our stance is to wait and see about the permit and location, and assume that they will seek high-capacity wells," Fennessy said.  "The cold-water resources that form the tributaries to the Mecan River have some sensitive habitat.  I'm sure that conservation groups will continue to monitor this closely."

Bill Furbish, an environmental scientist for the DNR, said there are several high-capacity wells that already tap the aquifer that supports theMecan River.

Fennessy took heart in Perrier's continued interest in Wisconsin, saying it indicated that the state has high-quality water.