LEAP project proposes piping millions of gallons of water from Tippecanoe County aquifer - Journal & Courier

Lebanon project proposes piping water from Tippecanoe County aquifer

LEAP project proposes piping millions of gallons of water from Tippecanoe County aquifer

Editor's note: This is the first in a three-part series that looks at the proposed use of water resources in Tippecanoe County to benefit economic development in Boone County.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. touts Lebanon as the ideal location for a 9,000-acre for a "megasite" that one day might be the work site for 50,000 people working in advance manufacturing, mixed-use and corporate campuses.

A project that large requires millions of gallons of water a day — reportedly between 10 million and 100 million gallons a day.

Lebanon's water resources cannot support such a large site.

One possible solution is the LEAP project: a plan to buy land in the Wabash River aquifer in southwestern Tippecanoe County, and pipe water from there to Lebanon, a distance that is more than one-third the width of the state, according to discussions this spring and summer with natural resource experts.

Google estimates the distance between West Point in Tippecanoe County to Lebanon is nearly 50 miles. The state of Indiana is 140 miles wide.

LEAP project to take water from local aquifers

The plan to solve the water dilemma has been dubbed the LEAP project. The 9,000 acres sits on farmland mostly west of Interstate 65 and mostly north of Indiana 32, encompassing the four miles of land north of Boone County Road 50 South.

The LEAP project is 30 minutes from experts at Purdue Research Park and Purdue University, 30 minutes from the Indianapolis Airport and conveniently located within minutes of interstates running north, south, east and west, according to the Indiana Economic Development Corp. website.

The LEAP project will buy land over the Wabash River aquifer in order to tap into that underground resource. So far, they are eyeing land southwest of Lafayette, Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski said.

“I want to make clear to folks that we understand that we don’t own the water," Roswarski said. "The water in the aquifer, in Indiana law, if you own the land above, you have the right to tap the water. We understand that.

“People say that they’re taking Lafayette’s water," Roswarski said during an interview in May. "They’re taking Tippecanoe County’s water.”

The project proposes to construct a pipeline to take ground water from the Wabash River aquifer and pump it to Lebanon.

“We found out about this several several months ago, and had a quick meeting with the (Indiana Economic Development Corp.)," Roswarski said.

Reports estimate that the LEAP project will draw millions of gallons of water from Tippecanoe County aquifers, pumping it to Lebanon for use there.

“We originally heard about 10 million (gallons a day), but then we heard it could go up as high as 100 million (gallons a day)," Roswarski said. “When that number came out, we got a little bit more concerned.”

Three main water sources in the Lafayette area

On the surface, the Wabash River runs from northwestern Ohio, across northern Indiana, through Tippecanoe County as it winds its way to Indiana's western border with Illinois. It eventually drains into the Ohio River, which in turns, feeds the Mississippi River.

Beneath the surface in the area of Tippecanoe County are two aquifers — the Wabash River aquifer and the Taeys River aquifer.

The Wabash River, the Wabash aquifer and the Taeys aquifer all touch in places, said Roswarski and Keith Cherkauer, Purdue professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University and the director of the Indiana Water Resources Research Center.

The aquifers are fed from falling rain that seeps through the ground into the aquifers.

Lafayette draws its water from the Taeys River aquifer, which is the remains of an ancient river.

“The Teays River existed on the surface historically and drained generally out of Ohio, through Indiana and kind of down to where the Mississippi River is now," Cherkauer said.

“By the end of the last ice age, it got filled in with sand, gravel, clays, basically crushed parts of the landscape to our north. Then there was a new surface.”

The Taeys was covered up as the melting glaciers created what we know today as the Wabash River, Cherkauer said.

The proposed LEAP project created a stir among the state's experts on Indiana's watersheds, rivers, aquifers and its water resources. They met in April via a Zoom conference and discussed various issues raised by the proposed project.

Future reports will take a look at how pumping 100 million gallons of water from the Wabash River aquifer might affect the river down stream, as well as the unseen underground aquifers. The J&C also will report on the discussions about Indiana's water laws.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.