St. Joseph County Plans to Protect Drinking Water

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind -- The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners has approved an amendment to an existing Water Protection Plan, aimed at addressing water contamination and improving access to clean water.

The updated plan focuses on researching ways to prevent contaminated water from entering local wells, as well as identifying areas that may require additional support for clean water access.

With the amendment, the county will be able to reallocate funds to expand the analysis of areas with high concentrations of septic systems. This will allow engineers to begin preparing a preliminary engineering report to explore long-term solutions.

Sky Medors, St. Joseph County engineer, said the plan will help identify problem areas.

“I think it will identify some problems, identify some problem locations, and I think a lot of it won’t be a surprise to many people where the problems are at and what they are, and it can give us an idea from a planning standpoint moving forward on, you know, are we talking $10 million, $50 million, or $100 million to address this problem?”

The initiative, which has been in development for several years, is led by the Lochemueller Group, a contractor responsible for wastewater treatment plants in Kokomo and Jeffersonville.