Proposed Mounds Lake Reservoir project entering crucial time

The proposed $450 million project was first conceived in 2010 by a group of local business owners and became public in 2013.

The reservoir as proposed will create a 2,100-acre lake that would extend from Anderson along the White River to Yorktown in Delaware County. The reservoir would flood an area that includes the Mounds Mall and adjacent business properties and 400 homes.

Rob Sparks, executive director of the Corporation for Economic Development (CED), which is spearheading the effort for the reservoir project, said the results of the Phase II feasibility study should be released early in 2015.

“I hope a decision is made in the first quarter of the year, a collective decision to pursue the project or not move forward,” Sparks said.

“Elected officials have to step up,” he said. “Our group can’t take it to the next level.”

The next step, once the Phase II feasibility study data is gathered, interpreted and divulged, will be the formation of the Mounds Lake Commission, Sparks said.

The commission, if created, will consist of 12 members from the Madison and Delaware county councils and board of commissioners, the city of Anderson and the towns of Chesterfield, Daleville and Yorktown.

The Madison County Council has tabled indefinitely action on an ordinance to create the commission. It was tabled in November because of unanswered questions on the make-up of the membership of the commission.

Sparks said the commission would plan for the development, financing and construction of the proposed reservoir.

He said the project is at a crossroads and there will be some recommendations made to be a part of Phase III of the project. That will include preliminary design and the start of the permitting process.

“The community has to embrace and move the project forward,” Sparks said

Sparks said the commission has to be created to provide government oversight of the project and the establishment of technical boards.

“This is a complex project,” he said, “and there will be a lot of impact on the community.”

Sparks said Phase III will involve engineering, community impact, finances, operating and mitigating the impact of the reservoir project.

The plan is to continue to educate the public about the reservoir project at regional events like the Indiana State Fair and with displays in the affected communities, Sparks said.

During the past year, opposition to the project has arisen from the local Heart of the River group and statewide organizations like the Hoosier Environmental Council and Citizens Action Coalition.

Sparks said the opposition is not a surprise and was expected by supporters of the project.

“We want feedback from the citizen groups,” he said. “Everyone wants more information on the impact to the river corridor and the region. I would encourage the commission to seek public input to make it the best project possible.”

Sparks said with a project of this size there are bound to be many rumors, adding that the CED has not purchased any property in the area of the proposed reservoir.

“We have no authority or money to buy property,” he said.