Economic officials tout Mounds Lake

MUNCIE – Economic development officials in eight East Central Indiana counties on Monday endorsed the Mounds Lake reservoir project.

In a statement released Monday afternoon, the executive directors or CEOs of economic development organizations in Blackford, Fayette, Grant, Henry, Jay, Randolph, Rush and Wayne counties called for a “thorough exploration in hopes of putting Mounds Lake on the map.”

“Mounds Lake can play a substantial role in ensuring that the future of East Central Indiana is prosperous,” the economic development officials’ statement said.

The only East Central Indiana economic development organizations not part of the release are those from the two counties where the reservoir would actually be built: Delaware and Madison counties.

Delaware County economic development officials have not stated a position on the project, although the Delaware County commissioners and county council have voted against it.

In Madison County, the Corporation for Economic Development is the driving force behind the reservoir project. Anderson City Council has so far endorsed the project.

Two years after it was announced, the Mounds Lake proposal’s next step would be a commission that would oversee the next phases in building the reservoir, which would be created by damming White River in Anderson, causing the river to back up past Daleville and to Yorktown in Delaware County.

Advocates say the miles-long, 2,100-acre lake would not only create a future source of water but recreation and economic development opportunities. Opponents say there’s been no stated demand for the water and that its formation would not only displace homes and businesses but destroy artifacts at Mounds State Park.

In the statement issued Monday afternoon, the ECI economic development officials said, “Regions rarely have the opportunity to define their future by redefining their landscape. Today, the East Central Indiana region has that opportunity with the Mounds Lake project in Delaware and Madison counties.”

The proposed reservoir offers not only water but “a proposed $35-million (annual) regional water utility ... (and) new opportunities for the surrounding communities and the entire region.”

“Jobs, new investment and new businesses are at the core of this project,” the economic development leaders said in their statement.

The group Heart of the River opposes the project and said Monday that the proposal was “neither the best nor the only way to reinvent our communities.”

Cost overruns, glitches, water quality issues and potential lawsuits stemming from the project “could be ruinous,” the group said.

Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.