About 475 property owners on the northwest side have received letters requesting easements for a Citizens Energy Group water project. (Image provided)
Citizens Energy Group has sent letters to about 475 property owners on the northwest side of the Indianapolis area requesting property easements for a water pipeline project using Eagle Creek Reservoir and other sources to serve Lebanon and the LEAP Research and Innovation District.
Ben Easley, a spokesperson for Citizens, said Eagle Creek Reservoir will be one of 10 water sources that will be part of the Lebanon Water Supply Program, which will provide 25 million gallons of water per day to Lebanon by 2031.
Citizens expects to begin construction on the pipeline project early next year. The current cost estimate of the Lebanon Water Supply Program, which is covered by a financing agreement with the Indiana Finance Authority, is just more than $560 million, Easley said.
Under the deal finalized last year, Citizens will provide wholesale water to Lebanon Utilities. Citizens is a wholesale water provider to other central Indiana communities including Brownsburg, Lawrence and Whitestown.
According to a timeline drafted by Citizens, the Lebanon Water Supply Program will provide 2 million gallons of water per day to Lebanon Utilities in 2027, 10 million gallons per day in 2028 and 25 million gallons per day in 2031. Water going to Lebanon will come from Eagle Creek Reservoir, Citizens Reservoir, Geist Reservoir, Morse Reservoir, the White River and other groundwater sources.
“There are 10 sources of water that power the full system,” Easley told IBJ. “And the totality of the system is what is being used to supply Lebanon Utilities just in the same way that when I get a drink of water out of my tap, the water could come from anywhere.”
In preparation to build the pipeline to support the utility group’s current network of pipes, Citizens has sent about 475 letters to property owners in Marion, Hendricks, Hamilton and Boone counties requesting property easements, which provide the right to use another landowner’s property for limited, often specific uses.
Easley said easement needs vary on a parcel-by-parcel basis, but a typical residential property would likely have a 20- to 30-foot easement around a proposed water main. The purchase price of an easement varies according to the requirements of each parcel.
“We’re going to be able to put pipeline in the ground where we have the easements from folks to make the system more redundant and resilient,” he said. “Citizens is committed to good-faith discussions with all property owners.”
The easements are only related to the installation of water transmission mains, and they are not related to upgrades to the T.W. Moses Plant on the east side of Eagle Creek Reservoir. Easley said the design process will begin next year for the Moses Plant, and construction would take place in the following years.
Land agents representing Citizens began contacting property owners in February. According to a letter obtained by IBJ, property owners can negotiate with the agent about the offer.
If an agreement is not reached, the letter says Citizens Water “will need to file an eminent domain lawsuit in court to acquire the Easement from your property for Citizens Water’s Project. To ensure the timely delivery of this project to our customers, and the fair and equitable treatment of all landowners, Citizens Water will file the eminent domain case approximately 31 days after the receipt of this offer package.”
Lou Ann Baker, a member of the Eagle Creek Advisory Board, said an area most affected by the easement requests in Indianapolis is along Moore Road, which extends from Lafayette Road to the Traders Point area south of West 96th Street.
Baker said she is concerned that property owners did not know about the project before they began receiving letters in the mail about the easement requests.
“Of the thousands of residents and neighborhoods [around] the park, no one has had any idea that this project is ongoing,” she said. “We’re simply asking to understand: What’s your plan? What’s your timeline? What research and data do you have to show us that that this is a valid … use of our natural resources?”
State Sen. J.D. Ford, D-Indianapolis, is communicating with property owners affected by the easement requests. He expressed frustration about the lack of detailed information about the plan and its potential impact on northwest-side residents.
“What I would ask Citizens is to put yourself in the shoes of someone receiving that letter,” Ford said. “It doesn’t scream partnership. It screams too bad, so sad.”
Last year, the Indiana Finance Authority approved $325 million in loans to support the extension of the Citizens Energy system to provide 25 million gallons of water per day to the LEAP District and surrounding Boone County developments. (LEAP stands for Limitless Exploration/Advanced Pace.)
The project is expected to serve the water needs of the district for the next 15 to 20 years, but the development will ultimately need additional water supplies to reach its projected size. The infrastructure extension will supply the $4.5 billion Eli Lilly and Co. foundary campus, a data center project by Meta Platforms Inc., additional park tenants and new development in the city.
The project is separate from a former plan by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. for a Wabash River pipeline project, which Easley said is no longer being considered. That project would have pumped water through a 35-mile pipeline to the LEAP district from Wabash River aquifers near Lafayette.
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