Water now, water forever: Hoosiers deserve a clear water policy

Humans fight wars over oil, diamonds and gold. All of these commodities carry monetary value, but none are a basic requirement for life. Imagine what value water may command one day if it’s treated as a commodity. Yet Indiana, currently blessed with abundant water, blithely ignores what’s increasingly clear: water will be the critical factor in whether a place is habitable or not. Like most states Indiana does not have a comprehensive policy to ensure Hoosiers can rely on our water supplies for generations to come. The LEAP development near Lebanon has done something environmental advocates so far have been unable to: focus the water issue. It has created a circumstance where diverse groups such as the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, the Indiana Farm Bureau and at least 10 communities along the Wabash River have called on lawmakers to enact comprehensive water policy. The Nature Conservancy in Indiana and many others have long advocated for such a policy. It requires the state to establish priorities for water supplies, policies for how and where it should be distributed and standards for ensuring all Hoosiers have sufficient clean water. This policy must take into consideration many things the General Assembly has studied...