Summit Leadership & Working Group

Indiana’s water resources are a vital asset to the state – our abundant freshwater supplies are an economic attractor and contribute immeasurably to our quality of life. Cooperation and investment are required to protect their value and all they provide. Many good ideas are being put to work across the state, and there remains much to learn and plenty to do.

About the Working Group

In keeping with the shift toward a more action-oriented Indiana Water Summit, the Summit Working Group was organized in 2022 and introduced at the 2022 Summit. The Working Group members are an interdisciplinary set of dedicated professionals who have volunteered to contribute their time, expertise, and insights throughout the year. The Working Group—composed of leaders from public and private, state and local organizations, and communities across all sectors of the Indiana water community – will follow up on Summit content and refine it into proposed actions.

The purposes of the Summit Working Group include:

• maintaining attention and momentum on issues highlighted in the Indiana Water Roadmap or addressed during the Indiana Water Summit,
• bringing diverse perspectives and experiences to those issues, and
• identifying actions that can be taken or advocated between annual Water Summits to help protect and improve Indiana’s water resources.

Through their deliberations and collaboration, the Working Group members may identify collaborative projects across sectors, innovative or cooperative funding methods, policy recommendations, public outreach and education initiatives, and so on.

Like the Summit, the Working Group’s agenda will revolve around the Indiana Water Roadmap that has been developed through extensive input and discussion in previous years. At their initial meetings, Working Group members listed short-term priorities of including more water users in their deliberations, increasing engagement with regulators, supporting greater legislator involvement and action on water issues, and advocating funding for water resource protection.

The Working Group has authored a summary White Paper for those who didn’t make the Water Summit or want to reflect on the significant findings. Many of the key take-aways and action items have been complied into the Group’s 2023 Work Plan.

2023 Summit White Paper
2022 Summit White Paper Work Plan

Who’s Involved

• Bob Barr, IUPUI Center for Earth and Environmental Science
• Mark Basch, Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources
• Bill Blomquist, White River Alliance
• Martha Clark Mettler, Indiana Dept. of Env. Mgmt.
• Keith Cherkauer, Purdue University
• Larry Clemens, The Nature Conservancy
• Jeff Cummins, Indiana Farm Bureau Federation
• Mathilee Das Lappin, Greeley and Hansen
• Greg Ellis, Indiana Chamber of Commerce
• Laura Esman, Purdue University
• Holly Faust, Hamilton County
• Indra Frank, Hoosier Environmental Council
• Christian Freitag, Conservation Law Center
• Jeff Frey, U.S. Geological Survey
• Sue Glick, Indiana Senate
• Matt Greller, Accelerate Indiana Municipalities
• Carey Hamilton, Indiana House of Representatives
• David Hillman, Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust
• Jill Hoffmann, White River Alliance
• Chris Jaros, CTL Engineering
• Lance Lantz, Town of Zionsville
• Tim Maloney, Hoosier Environmental Council
• Jim McGoff, Indiana Finance Authority
• Ann McIver, Citizens Energy Group
• Sheila McKinley, Christopher B. Burke Engineering
• Kumar Menon, City of Fort Wayne
• Lisa Milton, Newfields
• Ryan Mueller, Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources
• John Mundell, Mundell & Associates
• Brian Neilson, HWC Engineering
• Matthew Prine, Indiana American Water
• Gretchen Quirk, Marion County Health Department
• Brian Rockensuess, Indiana Dept. of Env. Mgmt.
• Joe Schmees, IASWCD
• Kevin Strunk, Wabash Resources & Consulting
• Kris Vance, USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Marty Wessler, Wessler Engineering
• Jack Wittman, Intera
• Emily Wood, Indiana Wildlife Federation

For more information about the Summit Working Group, or to express interest in joining, contact Jill Jill@thewhiteriveralliance.org.

Meeting Resources

To access the June 2023 Working Group Discussion on Source Water Protection, click the button below.

Source Water Protection