Amazon is asking to pump up to 35 million gallons of water a day from a wetland near New Carlisle while it builds a data center.

The company needs to remove groundwater so crews can keep working.

The request focuses on the southwest corner of the site and would extend pumping for another year.

At a packed meeting, the St. Joseph County Drainage Board listened to neighbors who questioned whether nearby ditches, including the Nespodziany Ditch and the Kankakee River watershed, can handle that much water. The daily total equals about 1.4 million gallons an hour.