WHAT HAPPENED? Compete streets For more than 25 years, Mark Zunk has lived next to Butler University on West 46th Street. In December, he received notice from the Department of Public Works about proposed changes to the “Sunset Avenue Streetscape.” Not mentioned: The plans for West 46th Street included banning street parking, installing sidewalks on the north side of 46th Street and felling of mature trees in Zunk’s front yard. Half of the project’s $3 million cost is paid by DPW, the other half by Butler, Zunk found. He lamented that Butler’s interactions on the project were being overseen by Councilman Ben Hunter, who is chief of staff to Butler President Jim Danko. “I personally know Irvington residents who have been asking the city for improvements, including sidewalks, for years,” lamented Zunk, in reference to Hunter’s district. So far, efforts to save the trees have yielded no encouraging results. “No one can explain why the ‘complete streets’ ordinance mandates a sidewalk through my trees, but not through the yard of Butler President Jim Danko, who also lives adjacent to this project. The only answer I could get came from Rich Michal, Butler’s vice president of facilities, who said, ‘We decided against it.’” Butler officials were unable to comment by press time, but DPW slipped in a reply just before we went to print noting that the partnership is but one of many across the city — including Irvington — that aim to leverage greater purchasing power out of tax money. A Day in the Life of Domestic Violence Outreach Domestic violence remains a scourge across the state and nation. A new report issued by the National Network to End Domestic Violence offers a snapshot of one day in Indiana: In one 24hour period in Indiana, 1,708 victims received services, but 128 could not be helped because local services were unavailable. Domestic violence programs have noted an 18.5 percent nationwide referral increase, which professionals suggest is being driven by the Affordable Care Act’s new domestic violence data collection and reporting requirements. For info on how to contribute to local intervention and prevention efforts, visit icadvinc.org. Mandated health care deadline looms Local health care providers and community organizers have mobilized to connect as many consumers as possible into the healthcare. gov federal health insurance exchange ahead of the March 31 registration deadline. The next federal enrollment period opens in November. The maximum penalty is either $95 or 1 percent of the person’s 2014 taxable income. On Thursday, Eskenazi Health announced it will host another Enroll Indianapolis Day from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Sat. March 29 at the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital, 720 Eskenazi Ave. (Free parking at the Eskenazi Health Parking Garage.) More than 64,000 Hoosiers are now enrolled in programs on the federal exchange, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. — REBECCA TOWNSEND 6 NEWS // 03.26.14 - 04.02.14 // 100% RECYCLED PAPER // NUVO
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ASSESSING INDIANA’S WATER SUPPLY AND DEMAND A conversation with Jack Wittman, the geoscientist leading a study of the state’s water needs and availability
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B Y R EBECCA TO W N S EN D RTOW N S E N D @ N U V O . N E T
fter hearing experts testify at a legislative summer study committee about the need for a comprehensive understanding of Indiana’s water supply and demand, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce decided to step up and get the job done. The chamber last fall hired Jack Wittman, a hydrogeologist based in Bloomington, Ind., who has worked with water resource issues on a national scale, to survey Indiana’s available information to help various stakeholders understand the state of the state’s water resources. He is now a principal geoscientist with Intera, a national geo-engineering firm that specializes in environmental issues, water resources, and waste isolation. What follows are edited excerpts of a March 4 telephone interview with Wittman.
RECENT STATEWIDE POPULATION GROWTH FROM HIGHEST TO LOWEST
NUVO: What inspired the effort to commission a survey of the state’s water resources? JACK WITTMAN: A fog of uncertainty about what will happen. ...The survey will look at facts, conditions and geography; not just physical landscape, but growth of the economies and populations - they’re going to tell the story. The last inventory, written by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, “Indiana’s Water Resource,” was published in 1980. NUVO: What sort of trend changes are you seeing? WITTMAN:The state has many industrial users that are no longer here, but they weren’t everywhere — just in particular regions. So water use in those areas of the state is down, but other counties of the state are losing population as new irrigation is increasing use ... In one county, 43 million gallons a day in
A map of the state's population growth illustrates areas that may feel pressure on local water resources. COURTESY OF JACK WITTMAN
the middle of summer when there are 20,000 people. NUVO: What can the data tell us about water use around Indy? WITTMAN:If you looked around Marion County and mapped GDP to water use, there is a correlation, influenced by the size of yards and whether there is sod and automatic sprinkler systems. NUVO: What are the supply and demand issues telling us? WITTMAN:There are times where the use in counties exceeded or met the recharge back into the aquifer. What
policymakers have to decide is: How do we get the people using the water to alter their uses when there isn’t enough water? ... Maybe particular limits in dry years or, from now on in this area, be aware of and manage how we build new wells. As a wet state, Indiana hasn’t had to grapple with resource allocation because no one needed to. I don’t think anyone didn’t do his or her job. It’s just that lately, things have gotten more difficult. This survey will help us take smart steps to anticipate the future and use the resources we have wisely. S E E , W A T E R , O N P A G E 08