Every day, hundreds of millions of gallons of water flow through the city of Indianapolis via the west fork of the White River.
The river is hugely important to Indianapolis residents. It provides about 60% of the city’s drinking water and provides the water needed by industrial facilities to make their products.
Unfortunately, recent studies suggest we might need a lot more water to support the growing region by the end of the century.
Scientists, water managers and local and state officials gathered to discuss water supply Aug. 21 at the Biltwell Event Center on the west side for the White River Alliance’s Indiana Water Summit, an annual forum to plan how best to use the water resources available.
“There is enough water, but we need to pay attention,” said Theresa Landewe, Midwest region director for the consulting firm Intera. “There’s potential for conflict and there’s also potential for growth, but we need to make sure we’re paying attention to where those resources are and how they’re being used.”
The ultimate goal of the summit is to lay the framework for cities, counties and regions to plan their water use while keeping the effects of those uses on downstream areas in mind.
The issue has recently been top of mind locally because of a state-backed economic development project in Boone County that will require up to 60 million gallons of water a day.
Residents from nearby communities opposed the project after a plan to use a pipeline to transport 100 million gallons a day from the Wabash River in Tippecanoe County was revealed at last year’s Indiana Water Summit. Following the pushback, that pipeline plan is on hold until the results of an Indiana Finance Authority study is released this year that will show how the water withdrawals would affect 28 counties.
Water security for Indianapolis and its neighbors
According to a study of central Indiana’s water supply, the region will have to find a lot more water in about 50 years.
By 2018, the last year of data in the central Indiana study, about 232 million gallons were withdrawn from surface sources every day — in rivers, creeks, streams and reservoirs — in the nine counties in the region. And 132 million gallons were pumped every day from aquifers.
Despite those vast amounts, the study predicts that 111 million more gallons per day will be needed by 2070.
The largest increases in demand will come from Marion and Hamilton counties. In Marion County, demand will increase by 20% due to population increases and increased gravel mining in the northern part of Indianapolis. Hamilton County’s water demand is expected to double, and what officials do there will directly affect downstream Indianapolis.
Jeff Willman, vice president of water operations of Citizens Energy Group, said he’s confident the region will be prepared for those increases.
“If you look at all the options available to us, we really have (all the water) we need for this region for the next 100 years, all within 25 miles of where we stand,” he said.
Citizens Energy gets about 75% of the water it uses from surface sources and about 25% from aquifers it taps through a network of five groundwater pumping stations.
The company also has several reservoirs, which can hold billions of gallons of water.
That’s good news for all the counties in the central Indiana region and its neighbors, which can buy water from the company if something disrupts their own supply. Citizens has sold water to communities outside the region, including Zionsville and Whitestown, for decades.
“If you look back at the history of the Indianapolis water system, it has just incrementally grown over decades,” Willman said. “It’s very much a regional system.”
Challenges in other regions
So far, regional water studies have been completed for central Indiana, the Interstate 74 corridor, and southeastern Indiana.
Regional studies in north central Indiana, and the Wabash River headwaters will be completed by this December.
“The reason for the studies is to get an understanding of the various needs within each region,” said Indiana Finance Authority Chief Operating Officer Jim McGoff. “We have found that each region does have very unique needs, resources and intent for future use.”
Each regional water study has cost between $700,000 and $1.2 million and takes years to complete, limiting how many can be completed.
Two Indiana legislators who attended the water summit — state Rep. Chris Campbell, D-West Lafayette, and state Sen. Spencer Deery, R-West Lafayette — said they would support legislation to fund the remaining regional studies.
Both Campbell and Deery, who are concerned about the impact of the Boone County economic development project on their constituents, believe the state’s water policies can be improved.
“I think one of the things that I really like to see is balance,” Campbell said. “The GDP is going up. We’ve got this triple A (credit) rating. But at the same time, incomes are going down, we’re one of the most polluted states in the country. That balance is missing. I think we can attract companies and economic development to the state and also have clean water.”
Deery said the success of any water policies will require leadership from future governors.
“I think the General Assembly craves strong leadership on big challenges like this from the executive branch,” he said. “I struggle to believe that we could get there without having an incoming governor take the lead on this.”