BOONE COUNTY, Ind. (Mirror Indy) –Indianapolis water-conservation advocates support a Boone County utility company’s decision to consider a stream that runs through Lebanon as a water discharge point for the LEAP district instead of Eagle Creek. Conservationists are worried introducing the wa ter into Eagle Creek, another option for Lebanon Utilities, would kill or drive away the fish and birds that depend on Eagle Creek Reservoir for survival. “That’s good news for the Eagle Creek Reservoir and good news for Eagle Creek Park,” said Lou Ann Baker, a member of the Eagle Creek Park Advisory Committee.  Lebanon Utilities is looking at Prairie Creek now, which eventually flows into the larger Sugar Creek in west central Indiana. If it’s selected, the utility would build a new treatment plant for the water used by the businesses in the LEAP district and release the treated water into the creek. The utility is examining how Prairie Creek would be affected by the increased water flow from LEAP district tenants — Meta’s $10 billion hyperscale data center campus and Eli Lilly and Co.’s $4.5 billion Lilly Medicine Foundry.  Lebanon Utilities General Manager Ed Basquill has not responded to Mirror Indy’s request for comment. At a Lebanon Utilities Service Board meeting Sept. 23, Wastewater Operations Manager Ryan Ottinger said the utility commissioned the Boone County Surveyor’s Office to create a report on how discharges from the plant would affect Prairie Creek. The report by Christopher B. Burke Engineering, LLC looked at how the approximately 1.9 inches more inches of water in the creek would affect Prairie Creek’s flood flows, flood elevation, channel stability and flood storage. The report is in its draft stage and will receive more input from Indianapolis-based Wessler Engineering and the BFS Civil Engineers, firms involved with the plant expansion. Lebanon Utilities expects it could take several months to finalize the report.  The water won’t flow into Eagle Creek Park Preliminary engineering reports for Lebanon Utilities’ wastewater plant upgrades had identified the location of the water discharge and other treatment structures on a piece of land within Eagle Creek Park between Interstate 65 and Lafayette Road. But after pushback from Indianapolis officials and community members, Basquill said in a notice released May 1 that “the discharge location will not occur within the limits of Eagle Creek Park.”  Citizens Energy Group, which will provide up to 25 million gallons of water per day to Lebanon Utilities from Indianapolis water sources by 2031, says choosing Prairie Creek would not reduce the amount of water available to Indianapolis.  Swans and ducks float in the water at Eagle Creek Park on Oct. 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy “While sustainable best practice traditionally favors returning wastewater to its specific watershed of origin — Lebanon Utilities potentially discharging this new volume of wastewater to Prairie Creek would not impair the Central Indiana water resources which provide our water supply, nor would it impair the ability of Citizens Energy Group to provide drinking water for our customers now or in the future,” said Ben Easley, Citizens Energy Group’s corporate and public affairs coordinator. Baker said she hopes Lebanon Utilities bases its decision on where to place the water discharge on science and data. She also hopes the utility company and other parties involved increase transparency for their decisions and keep the public involved every step of the way. “You’ve invested millions of dollars in studies, analysis and engineering. Surely you have a plan at this point, and surely you have confidence in that plan to be able to share it with the public,” she said. What’s next Lebanon Utilities will have to decide where to discharge the treated water before the treatment plant is built as soon as 2028. ...read more read less