Dear (Kokomo Tribune) Editor:
We the people of Kokomo, Indiana (www.wethepeoplekokomo.com) are concerned that some groups are using propaganda to try to make us think that we have “ample” water in our county. There have been two newspaper articles (Kokomo Tribune) in the past few months citing the same Indiana Finance Authority studies. The March 15th article states, “A state water plan would be used in similar fashion to a municipal comprehensive plan, with collected data being used to make decisions about how Indiana’s water resources are tapped.”
The reason we are concerned about any of our officials saying we have plenty of water is because we do NOT. Period. Howard County is not drinking water rich — even from the IFA studies which, according to several analysts, is a flawed study. Currently, 60% of Kokomo City water comes from the Wildcat Creek. Indiana American Water would not be using that source IF there was abundant ground water available. This is very important because the water needed for the Electric battery projects here in Kokomo are huge (3 million gallons per day) and has to be extremely pure — even exceeding drinking water needs.
The flaws in the IFA requested studies are major because they don’t separate out drinking water from what is called “brown” water. Sure you can clean up any water, but it becomes EXPENSIVE. The better the source water, the less expensive the clean up. Our suggestions to the city are to require major water hogs to recycle and pay more per unit will help with how much the rest of us have to pay for our water usage.
Never take water for granted. It is invaluable. Never take clean water for granted. It is a HUGE blessing. Indiana is blessed to have this natural resource in abundance, but that does not mean there is “ample’ water for pet projects that could destroy this natural resource forever.
Mr. Mike Day has done an extraordinary job of evaluating the IFA studies and here are his three key statements:
- A reduction of non-consumptive water withdrawals provides ZERO justification for water grabs (redistributions) or regional planning.
- A reduction of water at the tail of a river provides ZERO justification for water grabs (redistributions) up stream.
- A reduction of brown surface water provides ZERO justification for taking pure ground drinking water.
Lots more to discuss about all this. Please ask our officials about what companies they are giving tax abatements to and why and if these companies are protecting our (water) resources rather than sucking them dry.
Very Sincerely,
We the People Kokomo