The last time folks in the Utica area got together to discuss water resources, local firefighters stood watch at each door to make sure residents didn’t overfill the meeting room in a local church, and a police officer sat in a nearby parking lot.
That was July, soon after residents of Utica and surrounding Washington Township learned that Del-Co Water Company has an option to buy 95 acres south of Utica along Ohio Rt. 13 and the North Fork of the Licking River as a possible spot to drill for a utility-scale water well.
That means the ability to provide at least 1 million gallons a day.
To explain more about Del-Co and what it is doing in Licking County, the nonprofit cooperative utility will hold an informational meeting for residents and landowners at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at Utica High School, 260 Jefferson St.
Del-Co is now in the process of drilling observation wells on the land south of Ginger Hill Road and east of Rt. 13, and it is close to drilling a larger test well that will determine whether the aquifer under Washington Township is capable of providing a sustained draw of water by the utility.
“We’ll spend 20 to 25 minutes explaining who Del-Co is and why we’re interested in the Utica valley, what should be expected if and when the area is developed for a water utility and the timeline, and offer time for Q&A,” said Glenn Marzluf, general manager and chief executive officer of the utility based in Delaware County. “The goal is to alleviate anxiety.”
| Read more: A Delaware County water system’s search for water in Licking County creates anxiety in Washington Township
He said he has no illusions about residents being happy about a utility wanting to drill for water in their community, “but we want them to get the idea of what kind of community partner we are.”
Marzluf said exploration for water in northern Licking County “is long-term for us. I’d be surprised if we develop it in the next decade. It would be a long-term, future water source for us.”
He said he’s prepared to hear from some people who might be angry. “Folks who are coming and willing to listen will hear that their entire lives aren’t going to change and that it should not be a big concern for the Utica area,” he said.
Marzluf said Del-Co started searching for possible water sources in Licking County several years before Intel announced that it would build a $28 billion computer-chip manufacturing campus just south of Johnstown on 1,000 acres of former farmland.
| Read more: New Albany’s search for water for Intel goes far beyond Granville
That announcement in January 2022 increased the potential demand for water in the region, because Intel and nearby businesses are expected to use at least 6 million gallons of water a day when production begins at the first two factories on the site. The City of Columbus has committed to providing all of that water, but if and when all eight of the proposed factories are built, the demand for water would increase and other sources might be needed.
By comparison, the villages of Granville and Alexandria combined use about 1 million gallons of water a day.
The State of Ohio and the City of New Albany, where the Intel campus is located, told Intel that they would find water resources for the computer-chip manufacturer on that site. The immediate pressure to find that resource has diminished some since Intel has pushed back the production start date at those initial factories to at least 2030 from 2025.
So while Del-Co is looking for a potential water source in northern Licking County, the City of New Albany is at the same time doing virtually the same water-exploration process on land owned by The New Albany Company in western Granville Township. In concert with the Village of Granville, which draws drinking water from the aquifer being explored by New Albany, New Albany is drilling observation wells now, and a larger test well is soon to come.
During a July 29 meeting hosted by the Ohio Farm Bureau for Utica-area landowners, Dale Arnold, director of energy, utility and local government policy for the Farm Bureau, told the crowd of more than 200 people to remain calm, do their homework and work together to manage and protect their local resources.
“Getting up and flying off the handle is not going to be an option,” Arnold told the crowd in July. “I went to one hearing in Northwest Ohio where people were yelling and screaming, and two weeks later, the permit was approved. Go in prepared as a community.”
He told them to consider forming a grassroots committee to work with local officials, including Washington Township trustees and the Licking County Commissioners, some of whom attended the July meeting.
Arnold urged landowners to know the law, know their rights and potentially know how much water they currently use and how much water is under their land.
| Read more: ‘Do your homework,’ Farm Bureau official tells Licking County landowners in face of water exploration
In Washington Township, Marzluf said, “the test well is going in this week. Then, we’ll drop a well pump into it and pump continuously for 72 hours.”
During that time, Del-Co will monitor the smaller observation wells to see “how much you’re taxing the aquifer.”
If the company determines the aquifer is robust and capable of providing at least 1 million gallons a day – and up to 6 million gallons of water a day – it will exercise an option to buy the 95-acre farm where the testing is happening.
“We think that the community wants their questions answered, and we want to be transparent,” Marzluf said about the Oct. 21 informational meeting. “To the extent that we can – because some things are yet to be determined – we want to do our best to reduce anxiety.”
Alan Miller writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.