Gov. Eric Holcomb and state leaders reportedly have agreed to temporarily halt plans to build a pipeline to transport water from the Wabash River from the Lafayette area to Boone County for a state-backed business, life sciences and research park.
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Gov. Eric Holcomb and top state legislators say they will take no action to advance a proposal to transport water from Tippecanoe County to Boone County until after the Indiana Finance Authority completes a comprehensive water study, which is expected to be completed in fall 2024.
The Greater Lafayette Chamber hosted a meeting with state leaders at the Purdue University Airport last week about the possible project, which is meant to support an advanced technology and manufacturing campus in Boone County.
The legislative leaders were Senate President Pro Tem Rod Bray, R-Martinsville, and House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers. Other stakeholders at that meeting were local elected officials in Tippecanoe County and representatives from Purdue University.
The Chamber release also says Holcomb, Bray and Huston pledged to hold off on any further action until an independent review of the study is conducted “and legislative action is taken.”
Holcomb sent his own press release on Tuesday hailing the meeting as “productive” without explicitly saying he and the lawmakers had committed to taking no further action without the results of the study.
“Friday’s meeting provided the opportunity to have an unfiltered conversation around the issue of water and a chance to reiterate what has been said all along, and that is the data — yet still to be gathered — will drive any or all future decisions,” Holcomb said in the release.
“We are all committed to having a data-driven water study, and even if the results of the water study and independent review are favorable, any large projects will require additional legislative review and approval before moving forward,” Huston is quoted as saying in Holcomb’s release.
According to the Chamber release, Jim McGoff, chief of environmental programs for the Indiana Finance Authority, said the engineering firm hired to drill test wells along the Wabash River would not drill any additional wells.
Holcomb, Bray and Huston did not immediately respond Tuesday afternoon to IBJ’s requests for comment on the Chamber release.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has faced pushback for proposing a pipeline that would transport as much as 100 million gallons of water per day from Wabash River aquifers to the 10,000-acre LEAP Innovation and Research District located 35 miles away near Lebanon. LEAP stands for Limitless Exploration/Advanced Pace.
