The Indiana Water Program

Overview of Indiana Water

Indiana has a plentiful water supply which includes 35,673 miles of rivers and streams, over 105,000 acres of publicly owned lakes, reservoirs and ponds and 59 miles of Great Lakes shoreline. Yet we continue to struggle to find ways to manage our water so that we will meet increasing demands for more reliable, cleaner water and to restore, preserve, and maintain more of the services that our bodies of water provide including; clean drinking water, recreation, flood peak mitigation, wetland habitat, and others. In general, ground-water quality is good and groundwater is very safe. Indiana surface waters resources have undergone extensive assessment and a new surface water monitoring program administered by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management was implemented in 2001.

Water Quantity

Indiana water users withdraw approximately 10,700 million gallons of water per day from our ground and surface water resources. Surface water for energy production (water used for cooling in coal-fired power plants) accounts for the largest part (65%) of the state’s total reported water use. Indiana continues to rank among the highest industrial self-supplied water users in the U.S. (2,300 Mgal/day) and together with Louisiana accounts for 32 percent of the total fresh surface-water withdrawals in the country. Water for irrigation accounts for less than two percent of Indiana’s total water use, however in some areas of the state, it is the major use. Surface water withdrawals for irrigation account for 45% of this use with about 55% from groundwater resources.

Notice

The grants program is up and running for 2009.  Please visit the "Funding" section for more information.