CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. – Nestle has posted a video promoting its attempt to bottle spring water in the Columbia River Gorge, as two other films criticizing the plan were released.

Meanwhile, lobbying groups for and against the bottling plant are raising money to influence voters.

Residents in Hood River County will weigh in this May on whether they want to allow commercial bottling operations. A measure to ban plants such as the one Nestle proposed will appear on the primary elections ballot.

On March 9 the group Coalition for a Strong Gorge Economy, which opposes the ban, registered with the state. The group has raised $625 as of March 21.

Local Water Alliance, which supports the ban, registered with the state on Jan. 4 and has raised just over $14,000.

Governor Kate Brown scrutinized the plan to transfer water rights from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to Nestle. In November, she asked ODFW to withdraw its application to trade water rights. Brown also asked the Oregon Water Resources Commission to consider its policy regarding state-held water rights.

Nestle’s plan to bottle water from Oxbow Springs in the town of Cascade Locks has drawn national media attention and incited a heated debate.

Background: What’s at stake for the Nestle bottling plant in the Gorge

On one side, Nestle and some residents of Cascade Locks say the plant would bring much-needed jobs to an economically starved rural area and Oxbow Springs has plenty of water to spare.

Others say Nestle’s bottling plant would threaten fish and put residents at risk in times of drought, because the Oxbow Springs water rights that are currently public would be transferred to the town of Cascade Locks, who would sell the water to Nestle.

A spokeswoman for Nestle said the company would likely be in a long-term contract with Cascade Locks but those negotiations have not yet taken place.

In California, Nestle was criticized for bottling water in the San Bernardino National Forest in times of drought. The plant was also operating using permits that expired nearly three decades ago.

Nestle still hopes it can purchase water from Oxbow Springs and open an Oregon bottling plant.

In the video Nestle Waters North America posted to its Twitter page March 18, Cascade Locks residents talk about how the bottling plant’s jobs could pull the town out of its economic depression.

Learn what a new factory could mean to the people of Cascade Locks #Together4Water.https://t.co/QAhrM8nPfU — NestleWatersNA (@NestleWatersNA) March 19, 2016

“I see Nestle as an anchor to building this community,” said Port of Cascade Locks Commissioner Joeinne Caldwell.

Many wrote angry comments to Nestle in response to the tweet.

“This is sick propaganda,” one woman wrote.

Two other films critical of Nestle released trailers this month.

“When Nestle Comes to Town,” produced by the Story of Stuff Project, accuses the corporation of “hoodwinking small, economically depressed communities with promises of new industry and money.”

The Story of Stuff released the full video March 22, which was World Water Day.

DED Media also released a trailer on March 15 for a film “Oxbow – Oregon Says No to Nestle” about the issue. The film is expected to be completed in late April.

One of the biggest sticking points around the Nestle plant is the issue of drought. Although the Columbia River Gorge is known for its abundant rains, drought concerns came into focus last summer when Governor Kate Brown declared drought emergencies in 25 Oregon counties, including Hood River. The drought created wildfire conditions and threatened salmon and trout in rivers.

After heavy rains in December, the western part of Oregon finally saw drought conditions improve. But Gov. Brown urged state agencies to plan for drought in the future due to climate change.

Cascade Locks city administrator Gordon Zimmerman said the town's rainy microclimate protects it from drought.

Cascade Locks averages more than 77 inches of rain annually.