by When Indiana officials created a new industrial park to attract large microchip companies to the state, they chose a nearly 10,000-acre site near a booming metropolis, a major airport and a university research center.
But the area is missing a key ingredient to support the types of development the state wants to attract: access to the huge amounts of water that microchip makers might need.
Officials floated a plan to funnel huge volumes of water from an aquifer about 40 miles away. But the plan raised concerns about pressure on groundwater supplies at the source, prompting widespread calls to scrap the idea, at least until more studies can be done.
Last week, state officials said they would do just that, and Gov. Eric Holcomb and other leaders pledged to move forward with the project only after studies could be completed to ensure any drawdown is sustainable.
“The data, which has not yet been collected, will drive any and all future decisions,” said Governor Holcomb. in a press release.
The fight in Indiana is an example of growing tension over water as urban growth, industrial demands and haphazard regulation collide in communities that are putting increasing pressure on their limited groundwater supplies. On top of all this is a changing climate and the potential for more erratic weather conditions, including droughts like the one that dried out the state in 2012.
Critics say the pipeline plan could cause some residential wells to run dry and overload an aquifer that farmers rely on for irrigation, as well as possibly reduce flows in nearby rivers and streams. Supporters say initial tests show the aquifer has abundant water and that new investments — including a drug factory to make a rival to Ozempic, the diabetes and weight loss drug — would create jobs and boost the economy. .
The debate has also exposed how the state’s lack of groundwater regulation could lead to future problems in the region, which is trying to take advantage of Biden administration funding for chip research and development.
“We are not against economic development and growth, we just want to make sure that our citizens in our area are protected and our precious resources are protected,” said Indiana State Representative Sharon Negele.
Indiana leaders have courted semiconductor companies in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan in hopes of turning the state into a microchip hub. But chip manufacturing requires huge amounts of water to avoid contamination.
The Central Indiana Industrial Park is in Lebanon, Indiana, surrounded by corn and bean fields. Water is increasingly in demand there, not only because of population growth in nearby Indianapolis, but also because of a gravel mining industry that uses significant amounts of water to cool the stone during cutting and keep dust at bay.
The plan by officials of a quasi-public economic development corporation would transport water from an aquifer under the Wabash River in Tippecanoe County to the new industrial park, which is in an area that lacks significant access to rivers and lakes or abundant groundwater. .
Officials have said they could transfer up to 100 million gallons per day, an amount Rep. Negele called “shocking.” By comparison, he said, the city of Lafayette, Indiana, with a population of more than 71,000, uses 17 million gallons a day.
“The state seems to have attacked us and is using our money to fight us and steal our water,” said Jeff Findley, a retired well driller who lives in Tippecanoe County and who leads an opposition group against the project. .
Indiana allows most groundwater users to pump as much as they want. Because many parts of the state have access to enough water, regulation largely occurs only after a crisis occurs, Rep. Negele said.
It’s a pattern that exists in other states. This year, a New York Times investigation into groundwater regulations across the country found a patchwork of state and local rules so lax and outdated that, in many places, oversight is virtually nonexistent. Groundwater is dangerously depleted across the country, The Times found that a problem is being exacerbated by climate change.
Indiana regulators track major groundwater users by requiring them to register and self-report their annual withdrawals. But the state has relatively few monitoring wells to track groundwater levels, according to scientists. And responsibility for water issues is spread among several state agencies.
Land is being prepared in Boone County where the industrial park, called LEAP for Limitless Exploration/Advanced Pace, would be located.
Eli Lilly and Company announced plans to build two new $2.1 billion manufacturing plants there to make its weight-loss drug, among others. Lilly plans to draw water from existing sources in Lebanon rather than relying on pipelines, a company spokeswoman said.
Potential chipmakers would need much more water. Indiana is still smarting from being passed over last year by Intel, which chose Ohio as its headquarters. a $20 billion chip facility.
In November, after complaints about a lack of transparency at the economic development corporation, Governor Holcomb transferred responsibility for a groundwater study to the Indiana Finance Authority. He too announced plans for a broader regional water study in north-central Indiana, as well as the installation of new water monitoring devices.
The study will provide data “to gain a greater understanding of how much excess water is actually available to support the growth of the entire surrounding region before any action is taken that could inadvertently jeopardize this necessary resource,” the study said. governor in a November news release. release.
His office did not respond to a request for comment. in a Press conference Last week, he said that “not a single drop of water will be channeled until we know what volume is needed, not just for that region, but for a broader region across Indiana.”
A spokesman for the Indiana State Department of Natural Resources, which helps regulate groundwater, declined to comment beyond sending links to official websites showing the state’s large water users and a brochure outlining the groundwater regulations. The state can restrict pumping during drought and if it determines an aquifer is not recharging, according to the pamphlet.
Hydrologists say some aquifers can withstand extraordinarily large withdrawals because they are recharged by rain and snowmelt. Additionally, some industrial users of groundwater return it to the basin. But that wouldn’t be the case for water drawn from Tippecanoe County, opponents say.
The aquifer there supports several large farmers of corn, soybeans, wheat, hay and other crops, which require irrigation because they are largely grown in sandy soils. Carly Sheets, whose husband farms in Granville, Indiana, said officials conducted tests on a well during the summer irrigation season.
“For the first time, nearby residences experienced gravel in their filters, sand in their sinks and toilets, lower water pressure, and hydrogen sulfide odors,” he wrote in an email, adding: “The state’s solution to restoring a depleted aquifer is to deplete another.”
In early December, Tippecanoe County commissioners voted to support a nine-month moratorium on large groundwater withdrawals from the area, a measure designed to halt the project until lawmakers can act in next year’s session. . Rep. Negele, among others, intends to push for measures that would create a permitting process for large groundwater users.
Keith Cherkauer, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University and director of the Indiana Water Resources Research Center, said that under normal circumstances, the aquifer under the Wabash River may be able to support huge withdrawals. But he is worried about the years of drought.
Large withdrawals in times of drought could significantly drain the river, he said, as well as causing nearby homeowners’ shallow wells to dry up. Most of the state’s crops are rainfed, she said, but irrigation overall has increased since the 2012 drought.
“Since the state has no regulations or permits, there is nothing that can stop another and another and another,” he said, referring to users who want to make large withdrawals. “And, at some point, the aquifer breaks.”
