Mounds State Park's Junior Naturalists Day Camp participants enjoy fishing along White River as part of their camp activities. Staff photo by John P. Cleary
DALEVILLE — It was a plan first recommended by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources more than three decades ago and is now being embraced by opponents of the proposed Mounds Lake Reservoir.
Representatives from the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC), Heart of the River and the Robert Cooper Audubon Society unveiled plans Monday to create a system of trails along the White River from Anderson to Muncie.
Robbie Mixell, owner of Canoe Country, said the field in which the alternative proposal was presented would be waist deep underwater if the reservoir is constructed.
“I would lose my business and home,” he said. “People don’t paddle on a reservoir.”
Mixell said thousands of families and hundreds of school children have canoed on the White River for recreation and educational purposes.
Tim Maloney, senior policy director for HEC, said the proposed Mounds Greenway would connect parks and trail systems along the White River in Anderson, Chesterfield, Daleville, Yorktown and Muncie.
He said there is an alternative view for the future of White River and is not just a choice between a reservoir and doing nothing.
“We believe the community will see this as a superior alternative,” Maloney said.
The groups believe the Mounds Greenway proposal will protect forests, wetlands and the Mounds State Park.
“The Mounds Greenway protects the free flowing river and the floodway,” he said. “It would discourage development on the floodway.”
The project would cover 2,300 acres. Maloney said it would be done only by acquiring land from willing sellers.
“This would be a multi-use trail system,” Maloney said. “There would be access sites that would encourage development of small businesses.
“This offers a lot to all the communities,” he said. “It protects a high-quality natural resource, the west fork of the White River.”
Maloney said the Mounds Greenway would cost one-tenth of the estimated $450 million to create the Mounds Lake Reservoir.
He said the funds could come from federal and state grants and private land trusts.
“This is a superior alternative,” Maloney said. “It doesn’t depend on damaging the environment.”
Sarah McKillip, president of the Robert Cooper Audubon Society, said since 1974 the group has worked to protect and enhance the natural environment.
“This is an environmental alternative to the reservoir,” she said. “People of Madison and Delaware counties value the White River corridor. This would extend the parks and has been developed with concerned citizens of central Indiana.”
Sheryl Myers, spokeswoman for Heart of the River, said there has not been a meaningful public examination of the proposed reservoir project.
“Indiana is one of 16 states that do not have a water authority and the state is not looking at water conservation,” she said. “We question the need of a reservoir. There should be funds allocated by the state legislature for a detailed study of the proposal. We’re not buying the sales pitch.”
Myers said the White River corridor offers recreational activities and that more trails, both hiking and biking trails, are needed to encourage physical fitness.
© 2024 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.