Amidst the noise of national political turmoil, Senate Bill 4 seemed to fly under the Indiana radar this spring. Whoever named it “Water Matters” perhaps didn’t want any extra attention. Or maybe it is supposed to be read as “Water… it matters!” I like that last interpretation.
We’ve written here previously about the controversial LEAP project in Lebanon, which undoubtably led to this legislation.
The official text and history of the bill can be read here. The bill – signed into law by Governor Braun – establishes a procedure for long-haul water pipelines. Principally, it “prohibits a water utility from constructing a long haul water pipeline unless the water utility first obtains a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) from the Indiana utility regulatory commission (IURC).”
Reactions from the Indiana Wildlife Federation and the Hoosier Environmental Council were largely positive, and the bipartisan bill was passed unanimously by both chambers.
What of Lake Maxinkuckee?
Well, the bill appears to only cover water transfers between the ten large watershed in Indiana, not within smaller watersheds of individual lakes. Lake Max sits near very top of the Wabash River watershed, flowing first into the Tippecanoe River. Water withdrawals further downstream would not be expected to impact the lake directly.
The text does seem to indicate protections against project that would “result in a perennial overdraft of a ground water resource or in a perennial stream flow depletion.”
I asked the DNR if they had any recent updates on this permitting process. On Sep. 30, I was told, “To date, DNR has received no applications that meet the criteria defined by SEA 4.”
Given the unanimous and widespread support, it appears that this first step seems to be fairly tentative. But… a journey of continued stewardship is just that. Step, after step, after step… and it seems this is a step in the right direction.
I’ll drink to that!
Some further reading:
Hi, I’m Adam Thada, President of the Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Fund in Culver, IN. I studied Biology (BS) at Indiana Wesleyan University and Environmental Science (MSci) at Taylor University. The last decade or so has found me in Northern Indiana, working in sustainability, environmental education, and ecological restoration.
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