INPAWS Council Opposes Mounds Reservoir Project
At its quarterly meeting on February 11, 2014, INPAWS Council passed the following resolution:
The proposed Mounds Reservoir, on the White River at Anderson, would inundate a rare and unique dedicated state nature preserve, as well as significant areas of mature riparian habitat. The Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society believes that this would represent irreparable damage to the flora and fauna of Indiana, and is opposed to the project.
The Council’s position is based in part on the specific damage that this reservoir would do, which would be significant. However, they also believe that this project would undermine the state nature preserve law, which has not faced such a challenge since its passage in 1967.
State law provides that a state dedicated nature preserve may not be disposed of or used for other purposes unless there is determined to be an “imperative and unavoidable public necessity.” If economic development were determined to provide that necessity, INPAWS Council thinks no nature preserve in the state would be truly safe.
For information from Heart of the River, a grass-roots movement opposing the Mounds Reservoir proposal, visit www.moundslakereservoir.org.