Daleville Town Council's vote Monday not to join the Mounds Lake Commission is a major setback for the reservoir project but not a death knell.
Anderson and Chesterfield had already voted to join the commission, and Yorktown council is scheduled to consider on Monday a general resolution of support/non-support of the $440 million project. Yorktown is the only remaining municipality yet to vote on whether to join the commission.
The reservoir idea shows great promise for local economic development and also to address central Indiana's future water needs. So, it's not time yet to abandon the project -- not with so many questions still unanswered and so many studies left to be done.
Daleville council members had appeared poised to join the Mounds Lake Commission. But they were overwhelmed by pressure from anti-reservoir interests before and during their Monday meeting.
Credit opponents of the project for their organization and the delivery of their message that the reservoir would be a colossal waste of money, would harm the environment, would destroy the natural beauty of the White River and would threaten Mounds State Park and other historically and ecologically significant areas.
Obviously, their message has resonated with the people of Daleville and Delaware County, where opposition to the reservoir is fervent.
Considering that opposition, perhaps the economic development team that created the Mounds Lake plan should consider revising the project to limit it to Madison County.
Here at home, many would like to see the proposal move forward into the Phase III study. It's unclear at this point what path could be taken to support and finance that study. But Rob Sparks, director of the Madison County Corporation for Economic Development, isn't giving up.
The Hoosier Environmental Council has proposed that, in lieu of the reservoir, a greenway be created to connect Anderson to Chesterfield, Daleville, Yorktown and Muncie.
That's a great idea. Greenways promote exercise and expose people to nature, adding an attractive quality-of-life asset to communities.
But the greenway proposal doesn't approach the scope of the Mounds Lake project and its great potential for raising property values, attracting news businesses and generating tourism.
In short, no other current proposal rivals the benefits Mounds Lake could potentially offer for the Anderson area. It's just too early in the discovery process to let the reservoir idea die.