State Plans For $50 Million To Be Used For LEAP District Water Needs

Source: WISH-TV / other

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana plans to fork over around $50 million to fund the efforts to increase the amount of water that goes to the city of Lebanon and surrounding areas. This is so the new LEAP District being developed by the IEDC will have a sufficient water sufficient water supply.

The LEAP District is a massive undertaking that is expected to see a business park developed to bring in high-rolling companies to set up shop in central Indiana. The park already has a commitment from Eli Lilly for a drug manufacturing facility.

But, it needs water to work and developers and Lebanon city leaders say the city’s water sources are nearly maxed out without the district.

“The initial Eli Lilly commitment and related water demands maximize local utilities’ capacity, meaning that a new supply of water was going to be needed to allow Lebanon to continue to grow,” said Mark Wasky, senior vice president and special counsel at IEDC.

For now, the plan is for Citizens Energy Group to supply 25 million gallons of water per day from a portfolio of well fields and treatment plants. The money to fund this effort would fall on new customers within the LEAP District and not on current taxpayers in and around Lebanon.

Initial studies have shown that the Wabash River has enough water to meet the future needs of the LEAP District, but talks of using the Wabash River to do that have been met with a lot of criticism. Many local stakeholders have said that the IEDC’s methodology behind those studies was flawed.

Wasky faced several questions about the project from state lawmakers on the Indiana State Budget Committee on Thursday. State Rep. Ed Delaney (D-Indianapolis) in particular pressed Wasky about the need for water for future projects that may come about beyond the Lilly investment.

Wasky said the water project would handle needs beyond those of Lilly’s LEAP District campus and the city of Lebanon’s future growth, but Delaney urged Wasky and the IEDC to provide proof of those claims.

In that same vein, State Rep. Greg Porter (D-Indianapolis) has similar concerns about meeting the water needs for central Indiana beyond the LEAP District.

“The concern is what other projects may not occur within that Lebanon area, within that community because of a lack of water,” Porter said. “We’re very concerned about that, and so, the more transparency, we can have more deliberation with regards to the water and where those waters are going to come from.”

State Sen. Chris Garten (R-Jeffersonville) urged the IEDC and the Indiana Finance Authority to be as transparent as possible with the process moving forward. The Indiana Finance Authority still has yet to complete its water study for the LEAP District. That study is expected to be done by the end of the year.

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