The Indiana Finance Authority has announced its plans to expand the North Central Indiana Water Study that initially included Clinton and
Carroll counties to further include counties in the surrounding region, which adds Boone County to the examination.
The water study was initially planned to examine water demand and supply availability across the region of Benton, Cass, Carroll, Clinton, Fountain, Howard, Montgomery, Parke, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vermillion, Warren and White counties, but the study has since been expanded to include counties that reach the headwaters of the Wabash River.
The study will now cover Allen, Boone, Blackford, Delaware, Grant, Huntington, Jay, Madison, Miami, Noble, Randolph, Vigo, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties. According to Indiana Finance Authority Chief Operating Officer and Director of Environmental Programs Jim McGoff, the additional counties allow for a more comprehensive view of the demand and supply for the next 50 years.
“The study was originally planned to give the state a thorough understanding of demand and supply availability across the 13 counties over the next 50 years,” McGoff said. “Adding in the Wabash headwaters, a considerable span of geography just north of the original study area, will produce a more comprehensive report of the current and future water availability and use.”
The department stated that Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. and Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. have been retained to complete the study, and both organizations will utilize study processes comparable to other studies that have been conducted throughout the state as well as conduct outreach processes with utilities and economic development interests while also receiving input from state and local elected officials.
An advisory committee has also been erected with representatives from the Indiana Finance Authority, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, U.S. Geological Survey, White River Alliance, Purdue University and Indiana University to oversee the work produced by the consulting firms, and the committee will be tasked with providing input to help solidify a forecast of water availability to meet future demand in the region.
The department released that it anticipates preliminary data from the studies to become available in late spring or summer of 2024, and results are anticipated to be finalized in the fall.