IndyStar
There has been a lot of noise on both sides of the issue regarding Senate Bill 389, aka “the wetlands bill.” One side says the legislation will be detrimental to an array of wildlife species.
The other says SB 389 merely addresses puddles in farm fields that are not really wetlands. It all can be very confusing.
I’ll try to offer some clarity. Senate Bill 389 would be egregiously bad for all Hoosiers for two reasons: flooding and drinking water.
First of all, most of Indiana’s natural wetlands have already been destroyed. This happened a long time ago, when wilderness areas were converted to agriculture. Still, much of Indiana is pretty wet: Those endless farm fields you see across Indiana lie on top of hundreds of millions of miles of drainage tiles that move water away.