An Ashburton group set up to oppose the sale of water rights to a bottled water company says it has been inundated with support.
The district council is selling lot 9 in the Ashburton business estate, which comes with a resource consent to extract up to 45 litres of water per second from the town's aquifers.
Spokesperson for the group set up to oppose the sale Jen Branje said they would hold a protest next weekend and were hoping for support from beyond Ashburton.
She said she had taken a large amount of calls from around the country from people concerned it could happen in their communities.