St. Joseph County commissioners on Tuesday approved an agreement with the town of New Carlisle that, as expected, would limit the total amount of water drawn from the area’s Kankakee Aquifer as new developments by Amazon and General Motors-Samsung are expected to slurp large amounts of water.

As The Tribune reported in June, the total usage from two water treatment plants that New Carlisle owns would be 24 million gallons per day (MGD).

That’s less than the Kankakee Aquifer’s estimated “safe yield” of 44 MGD, as long as it’s recharged as usual. About 25% to 35% of that yield is already being used.

What we found in June: Can our aquifer support big water needs of Amazon and EV plant?

If development in the Indiana Enterprise Center grows so much that it demands more water usage, the agreement allows the two governments to revisit and study whether they could raise the limit.

The agreement was previously approved by the town of New Carlisle and the county’s Redevelopment Commission.
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