Citizens – Lebanon Water Supply Program
In 2024, Citizens Energy Group commenced the Citizens-Lebanon Water Supply Program (CLWSP) to supply water to Lebanon Utilities as a wholesale customer. Construction will include extending water mains; constructing booster stations and water storage provisions; and expanding two water treatment plants— maps are available in the fact sheets below.
By 2031, the program will enable the delivery of up to 25 million gallons of water per day (MGD) to Lebanon Utilities, expanding the robust Citizens regional water system that serves Marion County and eight other Central Indiana wholesale communities.
Extensive water resource modeling and public data confirm that water supply is sufficient to meet these new demands without impairing service for existing customers or adversely impacting natural water resources.
Project costs are currently estimated to be just more than $560 million. Current Citizens customers will not bear any program costs, which are financed through Indiana’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
Find more information below, including within the fact sheet and FAQ sections of this page. Citizens is committed to transparency for our customers and Central Indiana residents; this webpage will be routinely updated with the most up-to-date information.
CLWSP Field Guide for Project Team & Residents
CLWSP Fact Sheet: Water Main Extensions
CLWSP Fact Sheet: T.W. Moses - Plant Expansion
CLWSP Fact Sheet: White River North - Plant Expansion
Rates from Citizens customers will not be used to bear costs associated with this program:
Citizens is committed to protecting its customers from bearing any costs associated with water infrastructure to provide service to Lebanon Utilities. The infrastructure is being funded through loans from the Indiana Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (IFA Application Link). Bonds in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $700,000,000 are in accordance with the Resolution (link) adopted and approved by the Board of Directors for Utilities of the Department of Public Utilities of the City of Indianapolis (“Citizens”) on August 21, 2024 (Meeting Minutes Link). Citizens is not responsible for the debt service of the non-recourse loans. Citizens customer rates will not be used to fund infrastructure costs associated with this program.
Confidence in a robust regional water system
The Citizens water system is unique when compared to other water systems in Indiana in that most of its water comes from surface water sources instead of groundwater. The system is composed of 10 water treatment plants; waterways including the White River and Fall Creek; four reservoirs (Eagle Creek, Geist, Citizens, and Morse); and groundwater wells. See Map of Where We Provide Water Service.
Linked here are two slides from a presentation describing water in-flow and drawdown levels at Eagle Creek Reservoir. The graphs show high-level trends in the key data used in Citizens extensive hydrologic modeling and demonstrate the increased water availability in Eagle Creek Reservoir. Additional waterway data are publicly available from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Water supply is sufficient to meet the new demands of the CLWSP without impairing service for existing customers or adversely impacting natural water resources. The additional water to serve Lebanon Utilities will be treated through upgrades to two existing surface water treatment plants. There will be no impact to downstream minimum flows or historic draw-down levels within reservoirs and streams. For more information, please review the Citizens Water Resource Plan Summary linked in the section below.
The future of water in Central Indiana
The development of infrastructure to provide water to Lebanon Utilities was planned in concert with the strategic process Citizens completes to meet the regional growth needs of Central Indiana water customers. Citizens annually reviews and updates its strategic water resource plans for providing water to Central Indiana, considering normal and drought conditions up to 50 years into the future; this process includes collaborating with surrounding communities to examine regional water needs.
An overview report of this process is linked here as the Citizens Water Resource Plan Summary.
CLWSP Frequently Asked Questions
No, Citizens will protect its customers from the costs associated with this program. Funds from Citizens Water’s customer rates will not be used to repay the IFA loans.
The current estimate is just more than $560 million. The costs are covered by a financing agreement with the Indiana Finance Authority (not to exceed $700 million) and will not be paid by existing Citizens customers.
The overall program includes approximately 475 easements throughout Central Indiana. Citizens uses a third-party licensed appraising team to contact property owners and ensure that purchase prices are completed to national standards in a fair and equitable way. A typical residential property in an established residential setting area might expect compensation for a 20-30 feet wide easement around the proposed water main. Most property owners involved in the easement acquisition process have been contracted or will be contracted by mid-2026.
The overall program includes approximately 52 miles of mains. For context, there are approximately 4,500 total miles of water main in the current distribution system. New water mains will be installed with fire hydrants—more than 450 in total—to further support fire protection.
No. The new water main extensions will simply support and make more robust the current network of water mains in the northwest portion of the Citizens service territory. Citizens can move water around its distribution system from any of its natural water sources.
The four reservoirs of the larger Citizens water system total a storage capacity of 25 billion gallons of water supply.
No, Citizens Water will not be expanding its groundwater production capacity as a part of this program. To supply the City of Lebanon, Citizens Water will only be expanding its surface water production capacity at the TW Moses and White River North surface water treatment plants.
Citizens continually plans for future water use cases when evaluating a project such as this. A copy of the latest Integrated Water Resource Plan is provided at the link above to summarize this work.
Citizens will routinely update this website with more information as it becomes available. We are committed to keeping our customers and the residents of central Indiana up to date on how this work progresses. We will respond to news media requests about this program, and we welcome opportunities to engage with stakeholders at neighborhoods meetings.
Questions?
For additional information, email inquiries to CLWSP@citizensenergygroup.com
Learn more:
Use the virtual tour videos below for further context about how Citizens sources and treats water for Central Indiana customers. The "Citizens Reservoir" video explains how billions of gallons of capacity recently added to the regional water system has a stabilizing impact on the intake of individual water resources. And the "Water Treatment" process video demonstrates the rigorous steps taken to produce high-quality water for Central Indiana residents.
Citizens Water Treatment Process