A small but dedicated audience braved the heat Saturday for the annual Living With Lakes Seminars at Rogers Lakewood Park in Valparaiso.

Various exhibitors, including Woodland Savanna Land Conservancy, Repower Indiana, and Shirley Heinz Land Trust staged information booths that attendees could peruse in between the four featured lectures.

Talks included Valparaiso University Associate Professor of Geography Jon-Paul McCool’s lecture on a geological perspective on the lakes, Midwest Biological Survery founder Nathanael Pilla’s lecture on how “Everything is Connected to Everything,” and Valparaiso University Chemistry Professor Julie Peller’s talk on micro and nonoplastics and their impact on the environment and public health.

Sam Carpenter, executive director of the Hoosier Environmental Council, was the final speaker of the day, focusing on protecting Indiana’s water. He started by asking the audience if they knew where Indiana’s water quality ranks. “We are number 50,” he confirmed to murmurs from the crowd of about 35 that remained from a height of 50 earlier in the day.

He gave Indiana Gov. Mike Braun credit for taking first steps in developing a comprehensive water plan for the state, but said, “What they aren’t really talking about is water quality.” Carpenter said so far, the state is just focused on industrial water use.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation bought up 12,000 acres, “and then they realized, ‘We don’t have enough water to support this,’” Carpenter said of plans downstate. He said there had been talk of building a pipeline to bring up to 100 million gallons of water per day from the Wabash River to the LEAP district.

That prompted the audience to bring up data centers, referring to efforts by QTS to bring two large centers that would total nearly 800 acres to Wheeler. Carpenter said a data center can use the same amount of electricity as a medium-sized city. “We need to be very smart and cautious about this,” he said about accepting such a project, as efficient means of cooling the water used should be top priority.

When asked what they were concerned about, the audience also brought up stormwater runoff from new subdivisions. Carpenter informed them that local municipalities’ hands are tied by Indiana House Bill 1037, which prevents local entities from enacting into law any stormwater runoff standards on new construction that are more stringent than state laws. Developments less than one acre are exempt even from that law.

“If you’re dredging a stream or a lake or a river that’s very expensive to do,” Carpenter said. If a developer isn’t required to do it, the costs get shifted to the public. “We see those costs passed on to us. We see those costs on our water bills.”

He also referred to a study recently released by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce about the state’s water supply. “They’re really just thinking about water and where is the water supply to promote industry and economic growth,” Carpenter said.

Robyn Skuya-Boss, new chapter director of the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter, was invited to say a few words. He acknowledged the club’s activity in the region had fizzled in recent years and told the audience he was looking to re-engage folks here.

“It’s no mistake that our communities are in crisis at the same time that our environment is in crisis,” he said.

While most in the crowd were older adults, VU undergraduate research students junior Connor McMahon and senior Emily Broniewicz were part of just a handful of young attendees. They were heartened by the age of the crowd.

“It’s kind of inspiring a little bit,” Broniewicz said. “It can be disheartening that young people sometimes think they have to fix everything.”

One of the older guard, George Smolka, of Griffith, admitted he was much more active in other environmental organizations in the past. “I don’t go on a regular basis anymore.” The retired biologist and organic chemist was bothered that the audience didn’t ask more questions.

“The environmental movement needs a lot of work,” Smolka said. “They’ve got to get some guts.”

Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.