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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis Power & Light Co. has agreed to a 20-year contract with a state agency to potentially draw millions of
gallons of water from southern Indiana’s Lake Monroe.
The utility’s request is a contingency plan in case it needs
extra water to cool its generating plant near Petersburg. The contract would allow IPL to request the release of water from
the lake, which would follow the White River to the plant.
The Herald-Times of Bloomington reports the contract
with the state Natural Resources Commission still needs Gov. Mitch Daniels’ approval to take effect.
The company
had a similar contract with the state from 1980 to 2005, during which time it used water from Lake Monroe only once.
Daniels in 2006 nipped a proposal by former Indianapolis City-County Council President Beurt SerVaas to build a water pipeline
from Monroe to Indianapolis as insurance against drought. SerVaas wanted the pipeline to be expedited by a private not-for-profit
involving Indianapolis, the state and his pipeline company, Aquavisions.
The project caused an uproar among officials
in Bloomington, which draws water from the nearby reservoir.
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