Tippecanoe County acts to halt the significant water removal

Indianapolis, Indiana – The Tippecanoe territory Commissioners imposed a nine-month embargo to prevent large-scale water withdrawals from the Wabash River inside their territory.

By doing this, the commissioners hope to buy enough time for legislators at the state level to intervene and enact stricter laws.

The Tippecanoe County commissioners’ action is the first step toward maintaining the Wabash River’s water quality. The state’s efforts to slow down or cease using river water for the LEAP industrial expansion in Boone County have been covered in-depth by I-Team 8. The city councils of Attica, West Lafayette, and Lafayette have all passed resolutions opposing the state’s withdrawal of water from the Wabash River basin.

April Saur of Lafayette, Indiana, spoke to the commissioners during their November meeting. “Stopping this leap pipeline is paramount not only for me, but all of my Granville neighbors and Tippecanoe county,” the tearful resident of Lafayette said. She informed the Commissioners that she and her husband had seen one of the test wells pumping water from the river this summer while out for a bike ride along the river.

According to Saur, the water originates from a pasture close to the river’s south bank.

“After riding our bikes and getting sweaty, we go home to take a shower, but we didn’t have water, so we couldn’t do laundry,” Saur remarked.

In an effort to improve openness, Governor Holcomb has directed that the Wabash study be extended to at least 12 counties and that the Finance Authority take over from the Indiana Department of Economic Development. January is when results are anticipated. If a planned microchip manufacturing facility decides not to build in the LEAP development district—India is one of two midwestern locales presently being considered for the new microchip manufacturing plant—the search for water may become meaningless.