Indianapolis City-County councilors are turning up the heat on a state-backed water deal they say could put Eagle Creek Park and its reservoir at risk. In a sharply worded letter signed by 21 of the 25 council members, they urge officials to pause or rethink the city’s role in the LEAP innovation district water plan until Citizens Energy Group and Lebanon Utilities spell out exactly how up to 25 million gallons of water a day would be piped away and how treated wastewater would be sent back to Eagle Creek. The move is the most forceful political push yet after months of public meetings, petitions and even bridge-top demonstrations from neighbors worried about mudflats, migratory birds and long-term damage to the park.
Councilors push back
The letter, addressed to Mayor Joe Hogsett, Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry, Citizens Energy CEO Jeffrey Harrison and Lebanon Utilities General Manager Edward Basquill, was sent earlier this week, according to WFYI. Councilors wrote that they cannot support Indianapolis’ participation in the plan “until those concerns are addressed” and argued that recent decisions have tilted toward Lebanon and LEAP tenants instead of Indianapolis residents. Citizens Energy confirmed to WFYI that it received the letter and said the utility remains committed to protecting local water resources.
What the water deal would do
Under the Citizens-Lebanon Water Supply Program, Citizens Energy would expand its treatment capacity and build roughly 50 to 53 miles of transmission mains to deliver up to 25 million gallons of water per day to Lebanon Utilities. Deliveries would start at about 2 million gallons a day by 2027, increase to 10 million by 2028 and reach full capacity by 2031, according to reporting. The work would include enlarging the T.W. Moses plant at Eagle Creek and the White River North plant, plus adding booster stations and storage needed to move water northwest into Boone County, Mirror Indy reports.
Where treated wastewater would return
On the flip side of that pipeline, Lebanon Utilities plans to treat used water at an expanded plant and send much of it back into the Eagle Creek watershed through a new outfall. Residents and local scientists say that proposal needs tougher safeguards because standard wastewater treatment does not strip out every contaminant, WRTV reports. Hydrologists and advisory-committee members have called for an independent water budget and more study of how pharmaceuticals and other persistent compounds might build up in a relatively contained reservoir like Eagle Creek.
Political and community pushback
The backlash is not limited to local hearings. State Rep. Cherrish Pryor wrote to the Indiana Finance Authority urging it to reconsider the project, citing what she called “immense secrecy and detrimental environmental impact,” WFYI reported. At the same time, residents have organized protests, circulated petitions and pressed Boone County officials after the Lebanon City Council approved a water-rate district ordinance tied to LEAP, a move opponents say shields parts of the deal from public scrutiny, according to Mirror Indy.
Permits and the path ahead
Before any treated wastewater can be discharged into Eagle Creek, Lebanon Utilities will have to obtain pollution limits and construction permits from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and construction on the return line and related work is not expected to start until about 2028, WRTV reports. Councilors also point out that Citizens’ long-standing withdrawal agreement with the city, which sets caps on how much can be taken from Eagle Creek, is up for renewal this summer. That renewal could become one of the few direct levers Indianapolis has to limit future extractions.
Citizens' stance and next public meetings
Citizens Energy maintains that the program is designed to protect existing customers and says the costs of system upgrades would be repaid by LEAP tenants rather than local ratepayers. The utility directs residents to its Citizens-Lebanon Water Supply Program webpage for project documents, maps and a schedule of public meetings. Citizens Energy Group continues to hold informational sessions and says environmental studies are still underway, with some pieces of the design, including the final discharge location, not yet locked in.
What to watch
For now, the fight over Eagle Creek’s future will turn on council oversight, IDEM’s permit decisions and the renewal of Citizens’ withdrawal agreement with the city. Expect the debate to stay loud through the spring as public meetings continue and regulators begin sorting out technical limits and monitoring requirements for any water that leaves Indianapolis and flows back into Eagle Creek.
