Foes of proposed Mounds Lake Reservoir want project abandoned

A coalition of state environmental groups headed by Heart of the River conducted a press conference to point out concerns raised by the Phase II study of the proposed $450 million reservoir project. The reservoir would run from Anderson to Yorktown and create a 2,100-acre lake.

The project is being promoted by the Corporation for Economic Development of Anderson and Madison County (CED).

The next step in the project is the formation of the 12-member Mounds Lake Commission, which would take the proposal to the next level and include elected officials from Madison and Delaware counties, Anderson, Chesterfield, Daleville and Yorktown.

No local government entity had formally considered a proposed ordinance to create the commission as of Friday.

“We call on the Corporation for Economic Development to withdraw the ordinance to create the commission,” Heart of the River spokeswoman Marian Osborne Berky said.

“We want all consideration of this project be abandoned,” she said.

Rob Sparks, executive director of the CED, said the commission is the structure for evaluating the project and what is in the best interests of the community.

“We’re in a position to possibly move the project forward,” he said. “There are a lot of questions that remain to be answered.”

Sparks said the formation of the commission will take the project to the next level. It is one of many more steps and he anticipates additional studies will be conducted.

“It’s better done with the leadership of the community,” he said. “Any belief that formation of the commission is an approval of the project would be premature.”

Berky said the Phase II study has raised several troubling questions, pointing to a map of the proposed reservoir in the background with the areas of concern noted with red flags.

“There are fatal flaws,” she said. “There has been no cost study of the impact on local communities, and of the 20 solutions identified by Citizen’s Water of Indianapolis for future water needs, a reservoir is the least cost-effective.”

Reservoir supporters have indicated the project will be funded through the sale of water to municipalities in the future.

“It’s unlikely CED will find customers to purchase water in the future,” Berky said.

Jeff Stant, executive director of the Indiana Forest Alliance, said the proposed reservoir would destroy approximately 1,000 acres of old growth forested land, particularly along the banks of the White River at the Mounds State Park.

Stant said any proposal would meet legal challenges from state and federal agencies and local residents and businesses that would be displaced by the reservoir.

He suggested the CED partner with other groups to explore alternative plans along the White River corridor and preserve a free flowing river.

Jim Maloney with the Hoosier Environmental Council renewed the group's proposal for a trail system that would extend from Anderson to Muncie starting at the nature preserve on Rangeline Road in Anderson.

Maloney said the cost estimates range between $15 million and $40 million, and that there are state and federal grants available to fund the project.

“This would be a stark contrast to a reservoir,” he said. “It would protect natural resources and not destroy them.”