I would like to respond to the recent letter by Mr. Newcombe regarding the proposed expansion of the Lakeland Regional Sewer District to include the Tippecanoe and Chapman Lakes area.
I agree with Mr. Newcombe that the decision must be data driven and not based solely on sewers being "wanted" by a group.
So let's look at the data:
1) Lot Sizes - The Kosciusko County Area Planning Department requires a minimum buildable lot size for a structure, including a septic system, to be 20,000 square feet. Based on data obtained from the Kosciusko County GIS Office, approximately 73 percent of the lots in the Lake Tippecanoe Area do not meet the current required minimums.
In fact, 32 percent are less than half the minimum required square footage.
2) Soil Types - The United States Department of Agriculture, through the Soil Conservation Service, has mapped the soils of Kosciusko County. This tool is commonly used by planners, government officials, engineers and developers to plan land use. Most of the soils around the Tippecanoe Lakes Area are rated severe for septic system absorption fields. This rating means the soil is unsuitable for septic absorption fields. The severe rating can be due to several factors including excessively slow permeability, poor filter capacity and high water table.
3) Flood Plain - The Kosciusko County GIS Office has a map of the Tippecanoe Lakes Area which shows the existing parcels and a plot of the 840-foot elevation, which is 5 inches above the 100-year flood level. This map indicates that the majority of the lots are entirely or partially in the 100-year flood plain. As a result, many of the septic systems are at, in, or near the water table for at least some of the year. When this happens, many of the septic leach fields can contaminate private wells, drainage ditches and lakes within the area.
4) Additional Studies - J.F. New & Indiana University Lake Tippecanoe Diagnostic Study 1997.
The full report can be found at www.in.gov/dnr/
fishwild/files/Lake
TippecanoeDiagKosciusko
June97.pdf
This report supports the fact that private septic systems have failed, or are failing, and are inadequate. The report also indicates that private septic systems are leaching into ground water and surrounding lakes, and that lot size/density and poor soil conditions are major factors magnifying the private septic problems.
5) 2001 Indiana State of Environment Report -The 2001 Indiana State of the Environment report indicates that the Tippecanoe Lakes Area is highly susceptible to ground water contamination due to the types of soils and the closeness of the ground water to the surface.
The Lakeland Environmental Task Force petition has met all the requirements of Indiana Code 13-26-8 and used the same criteria which was used by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management when it ordered the formation of the sewer district for the Barbee Lakes Area.
Mr. Newcombe stated that the need for sewers in the Tippecanoe Lakes Area should be based on data and not "anecdotal" statements. That same criteria applies to those who "do not want" sewers. They must provide data that sewers are not needed. Unless Mr.Newcombe can refute the above data with facts, and not his own "anecdotal" comments, I will take him as a man of his word and look forward to his support of the sewer project.
