Water shortage is legal deja vu for some

JASPER COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - With dozens of Jasper County residents without running water, for a few like Ronald Prohosky, it's not the first time this has happened.

Back in the early 1980s, when there was another shortage of water, Prohosky said he was one of 44 named plaintiffs who sued the Prudential Insurance Company of America.

According to court documents, at the time, Prudential owned 23,000 acres of land in the area including Fair Oaks Farm.

The lawsuit was settled out of court and Prudential helped reimburse residents for their expenses.

"The concern was that the pumping was lowering water levels in the root zone and causing the corn and bean crops to fail basically or be less productive," said Mark Basch, the head of the Water Rights and Use Section of the Department of Natural Resources Division of Water.

The situation led to new state statutes related to water rights, spelling out that the DNR Division of Water is the investigation agency, giving DNR the authority to shut down agricultural irrigation if needed, and providing residents with a recourse for how they can recover their expenses if someone is breaking the law.

"There's some rules and regulations put down if they would just enforce them," Prohosky said.  "When the water table gets down so far, shut them down and let it build back up is my only concern."

Prudential is no longer the connected to the land.  According to Fair Oaks Farm CEO Gary Corbett, Fair Oaks has owned the land since 1998.