County water report

LaPorte County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for LaPorte County, Indiana.

Water grade

Water score

43.1

State rank

#62

of 92

Health violations

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

34.0%

297 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

26,222 recent measurements

Live streamflow

76%

TRAIL CREEK AT MICHIGAN CITY HARBOR, IN

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for LaPorte County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 43.1 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

34% impaired

297 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

76% of mean

TRAIL CREEK AT MICHIGAN CITY HARBOR, IN

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

26,222 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

43.1/100

Health violations

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

26.7

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

LaPorte County has 1 facility in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #1763 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

25.9

0-100 index

Facility count

0.0 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

-6.9

Compared with US county median

Mapped facilities

LAVENDER FIELDS HOLDINGS LLC
MICHIGAN CITY
EPA ECHO

See the LaPorte County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

Estimate daily water use for a hypothetical facility in LaPorte County.

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayHigh Impact

Your facility would use 40.3% of this county's industrial water baseline. Verify water rights and long-term drought projections before committing.

40.3% of county industrial baseline1.18 Mgal/day remaining headroom

Based on USGS 2020 water-use data and EPA-standard cooling intensity constants. Not a substitute for site-specific water rights analysis.

Editorial analysis

Understanding LaPorte County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

LaPorte County's drinking water received a D grade, scoring 43.1 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 19 health-based violations — a pattern that public water utilities are required to disclose and correct.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). A substantial 34.0% of assessed waterways are impaired (101 of 297 water bodies) across LaPorte County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are escherichia coli (e. coli) and biological integrity. Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T14:40:00.000-04:00) puts TRAIL CREEK at 74.9 cfs — running somewhat below its historical average at 76% of mean. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. LaPorte County has extensive coverage with 69 active monitoring sites with 26,222 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and inorganics, minor, metals. More monitoring sites generally indicate greater scientific attention to local water conditions — and provide the baseline data that regulators use to set future impairment listings.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for LaPorte County

Water Verdict

LaPorte County receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of D and a score of 43.1 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking.

Violation Context

LaPorte County has recorded 19 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 26.7 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

LaPorte County's drinking-water compliance is below average with a Grade D, indicating repeated or unresolved violations in the recent record. LaPorte County's drinking-water compliance score is 43.1 out of 100. The violation rate for LaPorte County is 26.7 per 100,000 people served. Residents are encouraged to use an NSF 53 or NSF 58-certified filter for drinking and cooking water until the underlying violations are resolved. Running tap water for 30 seconds before use and avoiding older lead-pipe connections can also reduce exposure risk. The current Consumer Confidence Report from your utility will specify the contaminants of concern. E. coli is the leading impairment cause in LaPorte County's watershed. With 69 active water-quality monitoring sites in LaPorte County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the TRAIL CREEK gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

LaPorte County has poorer water quality than the average county in Indiana. Its water score is 9.4 points lower than the state average, suggesting more challenges with contamination control or infrastructure than neighboring counties.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in LaPorte County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

1
E. coli (bacteria)
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment
2
Biological Integrity
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment
3
Pcbs in Fish Tissue
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for LaPorte County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for LaPorte County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for LaPorte County

Consumer Confidence Reports (IN)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Indiana

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

34.0%

101 of 297 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

1
ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)
2
BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY
3
PCBS IN FISH TISSUE

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

26K

26,222 total readings

Most Measured

Physical
Inorganics, Minor, Metals
Microbiological

Categories measured most frequently

Data from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), aggregating monitoring records from federal, state, and tribal sources. Each measurement represents a single sample analyzed for a specific characteristic (e.g., E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

74.9cfs

May 14, 6:40 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

76%

Below typical

Primary Streamgage

TRAIL CREEK AT MICHIGAN CITY HARBOR, IN

USGS site: 04095380
Drainage area: 59.1 sq mi
Long-term mean: 99.0 cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

Free tool

Estimate Your Water Costs

Water Cost Estimate

Household size

3 people · ~225 gal/day

Filter type

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for LaPorte County:C — Moderate

Some violations or watershed impairment detected.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in LaPorte County, Indiana?

LaPorte County, Indiana has a drinking-water quality grade of D with a score of 43.1/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 19 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.

Are there any water violations in LaPorte County?

LaPorte County has 19 health-based drinking water violations recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.

How healthy are the watersheds in LaPorte County?

EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 34.0% of LaPorte County's 297 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (101 impaired). The top reported causes are ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY, PCBS IN FISH TISSUE. Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.

How much water-quality monitoring happens in LaPorte County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 26,222 measurements from 69 monitoring sites in LaPorte County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Inorganics, Minor, Metals, Microbiological. Each measurement is a single sample analyzed for one characteristic (E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc.). High monitoring density means more scientific evidence behind any reported signal — it does not by itself indicate water quality.

What's happening with rivers in LaPorte County right now?

LaPorte County's primary USGS streamgage on the TRAIL CREEK has a pipeline snapshot of 74.9 cubic feet per second — 76% of the long-term mean of 99.04 cfs. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.

How does LaPorte County water compare to the Indiana average?

LaPorte County's SDWIS water quality score of 43.1/100 is lower than the Indiana state average of 52.5. The average water quality grade across Indiana is D, based on data from 92 counties with available SDWIS data.

Is tap water safe to drink in LaPorte County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, LaPorte County has a water quality grade of D (43.1/100). This indicates below-average compliance with significant violations. Residents may want to consider home water filtration or independent testing. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).

Why does LaPorte County have so many water violations?

LaPorte County has 19 health-based drinking water violations on record from the EPA SDWIS database. A higher violation count can result from aging infrastructure, underfunded water utilities, agricultural runoff contamination, or industrial pollution. Counties with more water systems may also see more violations simply due to scale. Residents concerned about water quality should consider independent water testing and home filtration systems.

How does LaPorte County rank for water quality in Indiana?

LaPorte County ranks #62 out of 92 counties in Indiana by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 43.1/100, it falls in the middle third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

Ripley County

Indiana

41.5

Water score

Montgomery County

Indiana

40.0

Water score

Pike County

Indiana

46.2

Water score

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Water-quality monitoring counts from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), federated USGS, EPA, and state agency sampling records over a rolling 5-year window.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated May 14, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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