St. Joseph County drainage board hears residents' concern over large dewatering and discharge permits tied to data‑center construction

At a St. Joseph County Drainage Board meeting, residents and landowners pressed the board to use its permitting process to limit or more closely review discharge tied to construction dewatering for large data‑center projects, saying proposals to pump tens of millions of gallons per day risk flooding and long‑term damage to farmland and downstream waterways.

The concerns centered on a frequently cited figure of 52,000,000 gallons per day for construction dewatering, a petition with nearly 90 signatures from downstream landowners, and long‑running complaints about a city‑connected retention pond that commenters said has been used to carry street runoff into private ditches rather than acting as a monitored retention basin.

Why it matters: Audience members said the volume and frequency of proposed pumping — coupled with persistent water‑quality problems — could raise water levels in irrigation ditches, damage banks, harm crops and affect downstream communities that rely on the same waterways. Speakers pressed the board to coordinate with the county health department, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and state legislators and to consider perpetual monitoring of discharges during…