Attendees at Indiana’s first Water Stewardship Day heard one message loud and clear: Water transcends politics.
“Water conservation is not a partisan issue, it’s a Hoosier issue,” said speaker John Mundell, a geologist and engineer who has worked on thousands of environmental projects in water quality and quantity. “It’s an issue that impacts every person, every business, every family, every community. It is something that transcends politics and it’s at the heart of our shared responsibility for future generations.
“The value of water is immeasurable. It sustains life. It drives economic engines and it enables our thriving communities to live safely.”
The Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter was among several local organizations represented at the Jan. 28 event, organized by the Indiana Conservation Voters (ICV) at the Indiana Statehouse. Club leaders and members talked to attendees about the organization and the state of our waterways. But they also spoke with state leaders and listened in on discussions involving water legislation.
“There’s been an encouraging response and increasingly universal understanding that we have to be good stewards of our water resources in Indiana,” said Robyn Skuya-Boss, Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter director. “We know water is a crucial resource that all life depends upon. We need to ensure we have enough water resources and that we are putting in the work to improve the quality of the water in Indiana.”
And for those keeping score, Indiana isn’t doing well on the water front. According to ICV, Indiana ranks 33rd in water quality and last in pollution. About 20% of Indiana’s septic tanks are failing, releasing more than 15 billion gallons of raw sewage into Indiana’s environment annually. There’s no definitive answer as to how much water there is in Indiana and there is no central authority responsible for ensuring our water is clean and plentiful.
Sen. Spencer Deery (R-West Lafayette) represents Senate District 23 near Lafayette, which runs along the Wabash River. He told the crowd how water became a hot topic in his district.
“My Senate district represents more of the Wabash River than any other district in the state,” Sen. Deery said. “A couple years ago, I came into this not knowing much about water policy. Like most Hoosiers, it wasn’t something to think about. You just turn on the faucet and you want water to be there. Then my county was faced with the proposal to move somewhere between 30 to 100 million gallons of water a day from the Wabash River down to Boone County without having any say of whether that was a good idea and without any regulations in place. Water was thrust upon me as the No. 1 issue in my area.”
But, he says, water wasn’t a dividing issue among his constituents. In fact, it was exactly the opposite.
“The Wabash River is the one thing that really unites two different parts of my district,” he explained. “From the college town to the rural areas — every single person cares about the health of this river and the health of their water. I don’t care what your politics are. I don’t care what part of the state you are from. You all care about clean water.”
This message was thread throughout the entire day, as speaker after speaker and attendee after attendee spoke of the importance of plentiful, clean water.
“As we stand here, there is legislation moving forward that could act as a roadmap toward a comprehensive state water plan,” said ICV Conservation Campaign Manager Desi Rybolt.
That legislation includes bills targeting water quantity and quality — a giant step toward protecting our most precious resource.
“One of the primary ways we can continue to improve the quality and availability of water is through strong state policies on environmental issues,” Mundell said. “These policies should aim to address the community threats to water quality but also take that long-term, proactive approach to ensuring future generations can have access to safe and clean drinking water.
“We’ve made so much progress and have so much more to do. I urge you as leaders of water to go talk to the people who make a difference in developing policies and tell them this is the key priority. There’s nothing more important than the water that we drink.”
Deery also urged attendees to continue to advocate for clean water and conservation issues — with one bit of advice.
“Don’t let the next time you talk to your legislator be next year,” he said. “The worst time to ask your legislator for something you need is the day you meet them. Look for opportunities to get to know them and keep water on their mind.”
Want to learn more? Follow the bills that focus on water issues in the 2025 Session of the Indiana General Assembly.
To get involved with water and other conservation issues at Sierra Club, contact our Conservation Committee chair Julie Lowe - j_lowe66@yahoo.com.
Kasey Grau Jackson
Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter Executive Committee