Mounds Lake foes cite fatal flaws with project which has $440 million estimated cost

The Madison County Corporation for Economic Development has proposed a 2,100-acre lake to extend from the Irondale neighborhood in Anderson almost to Yorktown.

The project has an estimated cost of $440 million. Two feasibility studies have been completed, the last with a $600,000 state grant.

Since its inception, local and statewide environmental groups have opposed the project.

The next step is the creation of a commission, consisting of elected officials from Madison and Delaware counties, Anderson, Chesterfield, Daleville and Yorktown.

There are fatal flaws surrounding the project, engineer Thomas Holman said during a Thursday forum at Yorktown High School hosted by the Delaware County League of Women Voters and the Heart of the River Coalition. 

He said an April letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency noted that planners of the proposed reservoir didn’t look at alternatives that would have less of an impact on the environment.

Holman said when first proposed, justification for the Mounds Lake project was that it was an economic development tool and when that didn’t fly, it was for flood control.

“It will have minimal impact,” he said. “Reservoirs for flood control are different than water supply reservoirs.”

He said water supply is not a justification because Indianapolis has indicated it has  an adequate supply for 35 years and bringing water from the Ohio and Wabash rivers is a cheaper alternative.

“A fatal flaw is that there is no potential buyer for 35 years,” Holman said.

He was surprised the project is being proposed in the urbanized area of Anderson and is surrounded by sand and gravel resources.

Holman said the $440 million estimated construction cost doesn't include $110 million for administrative, design and construction management.

“If this was my client I would tell them it was not a wise use of your money to continue with this,” he said.

Holman said he didn’t expect permits to be granted because a dedicated nature preserve, one of which is located in Mounds State Park, has never been decertified.

“If the permits were issued and the nature preserve decertified, there would be lawsuits that would cause years of delay and probable defeat,” he said.

Lee Casebere, retired DNR assistant director of managing natural areas, said there is a 16-acre dedicated nature preserve at Mounds State Park, which includes the Mounds Fen.

He said a dedicated nature preserve can’t be converted to any other use and none in Indiana has ever been decertified.

Casebere said proponents of the reservoir believe the issue of the fen nature preserve can be mitigated and can be easily surmounted.

“Creating a new fen elsewhere is impossible,” he said. “Buying or replacing the fen does not replace the loss. It will be gone.

“Mitigation shouldn’t be considered as an option,” Casebere said.