Is the Citizens Reservoir announcement Tuesday a death knell for the Mounds Lake proposal?
Before addressing that question, step back for a moment and consider Citizens Energy Group’s plan for a reservoir near Fishers on its own merit, not through the lens of the controversial Mounds Lake Reservoir project.
The reservoir will fill a quarry that has already been hollowed out — to a depth of 230 feet across the breadth of 88 acres. The quarry is right next to Geist Reservoir, already a water supply for the Indianapolis area.
When Geist becomes swollen after heavy rains, the excess water will be pumped into the quarry, which could provide an estimated 25 million gallons a day for a 90-day period to be used in times of drought and, long range, in times of increasing need.
The Indiana Chamber of Commerce projects that the central Indiana area will need as much as 80 million gallons of additional water a day, compared to current needs, within the next 25 years. The Citizens Reservoir could satisfy some of that need.
Citizens’ cost to build the reservoir is a relatively modest $20 million. “We can implement this project within our normal capital budget,” said Citizen’s official Jim Willman at a Tuesday press conference where plans for the reservoir were announced.
Presumably, there will be no outcry over potential ecological ramifications, given that the quarry has already been dug and that impact on the above-ground environment would likely be limited.
Now, let’s turn our attention to Citizens Reservoir’s potential affect on the proposed Mounds Lake Reservoir project, which would dam the White River and stretch seven miles from Anderson to Yorktown, covering 2,100 acres. The project would cost an estimated $440 million and submerge more than 400 homes and businesses.
The reactions to the Citizens press conference from local supporters and detractors of Mounds Lake were predictable.
Heart of the River representative Sheryl Myers said, in regard to Mounds, “There is no sense in bringing on a new reservoir. The water may not be needed for 30 years. With no customer guaranteed, the Mounds project shouldn’t go to a third phase.”
Town councils in Yorktown, Daleville and Chesterfield are considering joining Anderson in forming a Mounds Lake commission to oversee a $28 million third phase of study.
Rob Sparks of the local Corporation for Economic Development didn’t blink when the Citizens Reservoir was announced Tuesday, pointing out that the Citizens Reservoir won’t be naturally replenished. “Overall, we still continue to have a need to develop future water resources. The Mounds Reservoir will always provide up to 60 million gallons a day because of the ability to replenish itself.”
It would seem, based on the Chamber of Commerce report, that the Citizens Reservoir, on its own, will not quench central Indiana’s growing thirst for water over the next three decades. But the assertion of Citizens officials at Tuesday’s press conference that they are uninterested, for now, in investing in Mounds Lake removes one of the few potential financiers from the project.
So, in the end, the fundamental question remains: Is the Citizens Reservoir announcement a death knell for the Mounds Lake project?
The answer: Only if town council members in Chesterfield, Daleville and Yorktown think it is.