Do Water Parks Belong in the Desert?

As drought intensifies in the West, Joanna Allhands examines the impact that three planned water parks in Arizona would have on water supplies. "[A]re these parks really an abomination, compared to other municipal water uses?"

Crystal Lagoons, a planned development featuring a 10-acre lagoon, "will require about 19.5 million gallons, or roughly 60 acre-feet, to fill. That should be less than what the site had previously used to grow crops, and roughly what it takes to supply 180 homes a year, based on what the average Glendale home uses." The Strand @ Gilbert, meanwhile, "is expected to use 200 acre-feet of water a year, which Gilbert contends is less than half of what an average golf course might use," and will be supplying its own water rather than using city supplies.

Some wonder whether recreational uses should be allowed at all. Ultimately, Allhands writes, "image is everything, particularly when we should be encouraging folks to conserve. If it’s not wasteful to build beaches in the desert, make that case to residents much earlier in the development process – and with much greater detail."