Water planning for the future in Indiana
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- The Indiana Chamber released a water study Monday, calling for a state-wide water plan for future needs. This comes as major developments are on their way to St. Joseph County, such as two data centers from Amazon and Microsoft.
Concerns about their water usage are front and center, and ABC57's Annie Kate explains what our regional water usage looks like and what we can do to mitigate future risks.
To be clear, the water study*, conducted by INTERA Incorporated claimed the state is doing fine in regard to water supply. We have enough now, but the call for a plan is because that may not be the case in the future.
"Today, we have enough water users in the entire state that we have to start paying attention," said Jack Wittman, a vice president at INTERA. "So, other states have sorted out what to do, and it's our turn, basically."
"What we've done is we've cited the states of Minnesota and Texas, which are both very different geographically and politically. And they have some water planning regional water planning structures. The water study recommended that the State of Indiana look at something like that," said Greg Ellis with the Indiana Chamber.
This comes amid rapid growth and water concerns in central and southern Indiana, particularly the LEAP pipeline project in Tippecanoe County.
It's a concern shared in our region, something New Carlisle resident Dan Caruso brought up back when Annie Kate interviewed him about the final vote on the St. Joseph County Amazon development agreement for a data center.
"I worry a little bit about what's happening to not just me. I want to be able to cook and bathe and water my plants and have my water needs, but through my involvement here, I've seen there's a viable threat to what could possibly happen to future generations in my area and downstream from here," he said.
"We think it's a great idea, I mean, certainly at the local level, a lot of the conversations we've had out in New Carlisle and then Capital Avenue with the potential Microsoft project, a lot of conversations about aquifer protection and how much water are we using, and all of those kinds of things," said Bill Schalliol, economic development director for the county.
Here's the thing: Northern Indiana is doing fine in regard to water supply. In St. Joseph County at the site of these developments, there's the Kankakee Aquifer to thank.
Still, there is nothing mandating the county to set water usage limits on the data centers and manufacturing facilities coming our way, but they did so anyway, partially due to public uproar.
"We don't, by law, have to do that. We made a conscious decision, that because of the feedback we heard out in New Carlisle, there was a need to protect the aquifer," Schalliol said. "So, what we did is we did a lot of research to understand how prolific the aquifer was, how much water is generated on a daily basis, and then, we kind of knew how much water we would need for all the development, and then we set a cap. So, the cap is somewhat artificial, but at the same point in time, it allows for a lot of protection, a lot of extra water to be kept in the aquifer."
How much water are we talking?
"We estimate that we're only going to use about 21 million gallons a day once GM, Amazon, and all the other industrial projects are built out, the plants will have a total capacity of 24 million gallons a day, but the aquifer itself actually generates about 44 million gallons a day so we've got about 23 million gallons a day of extra water that we're looking to protect."
But Wittman, one of the authors of the water study, makes a critical point about data centers.
"Their consumption is what you should think about, not their use. Okay? It's really not the same, and it's important to think differently about using the water for a purpose and putting it back," he said. "So, you might use it for cooling water, so you heat the water up, and you put it right back where it was. That's not the same as taking the water out and consuming it."
That is, if the data centers are responsibly recycling the water.
"They have to recycle their water, that's one of the things the state should have as a requirement, for data centers, things like that, where they require modern conservation practices," Wittman said.
He said Indiana has no such requirements in place, but other states do.
Annie Kate asked Schalliol if the Amazon data center will recycle its water.
"So, there's a percentage of that water that evaporates, just because it's heated and it gets hot and the water evaporates, and then there's a percentage that goes back into the network, so whether it goes to be cleaned in the water treatment systems, whether it's discharged back into the rivers or ponds, and then ultimately end up back in the aquifer," he said.
It's clear the conversation over water conservation is just getting started in the Hoosier state.