Tempe Town Lake crown jewel of Rio Salado project

Destination Arizona
B. Thomas Cooper
Editor

Live in an arid climate long enough, and one soon begins to dream of water. In Tempe, Arizona, that dream has come true, in the form of a 99 million gallon, man made lake.


Tempe Town Lake

In 1911, workers completed construction of the massive Roosevelt Dam east of the fledgling city of Phoenix, Arizona. Save for the occasional flood, water would soon cease to flow through the Salt River toward the growing community downstream. The river water was redirected through an intricate canal system to accommodate farmland in the valley. What had formerly been a rich riparian habitat along the river, quickly became a barren wasteland.

Faced with starvation, wildlife indigenous to the river basin was forced to abandon the dieing habitat. By the mid fifties, the riverbed had succumbed to neglect. The dry river became home to a bevy of industry, land fills and quarries. The once glorious Salt River had reached rock bottom.

Then in 1966, a wonderful thing happened. Dean Elmore of the College of Architecture at Arizona State University came up with a wonderful, wonderful idea. Elmore and his students envisioned building a series of locks and channels along the dry riverbed. They proposed refilling the channels with water, building sections of park and greenbelt along the rivers neglected banks and rehabilitating the surrounding ecosystem. It was a grand and beautiful plan.

In 1987, after years of research and development, the Rio Salado project was finally put before valley voters. The surrounding valley communities resoundingly defeated the bill, but in Tempe, residents remained supportive. Tempe Mayor Harry Mitchell agreed, announcing the town of Tempe was prepared to go it alone. It was the beginning of what would slowly develop into Tempe Town Lake.

Eight rubber bladder dams, each 16 feet tall and 240 feet in length, were installed along the river, creating a 2-mile long lake with over 220-surface acres of water. Finally, on
June 2, 1999, Water from the Central Arizona canal began flowing into the Tempe Town Lake. 43 days later, the lake was officially declared full.

Ten years later, Tempe Town Lake has become the top attraction in the valley, with nearly three million people visiting the lake annually. It is the crowning achievement of a project over thirty years in the making.

Each year, millions of people enjoy the lake. Some boat, while others choose to walk or jog along the miles of adjoining trails. Valley parents bring their family for an afternoon picnic. Some simply come to the lake to gaze at this beautiful oasis in the middle of the bustling city.

The Rio Salado project may never be entirely completed, and perhaps that’s a good thing. Valley residents can expect the lake and the surrounding rehabilitated ecosystem to continually grow and improve with age. Downstream, mighty cottonwood trees once again adorn the riverbed and the indigenous wildlife, absent for nearly a hundred years, is slowly returning.

On Dec. 12, 2009, the town of Tempe will celebrate the tenth birthday of this extraordinary environmental achievement. The free birthday bash begins at 3 p.m., and will feature fireworks and a Festival of Lights Boat Parade, sponsored by Arizona Public Service.


Destination Arizona
Destination Arizona

Yavapai Nation to celebrate 28th annual Orme Dam Victory Days

Destination Arizona
B. Thomas Cooper
Editor


On November 20th, 2009, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation northeast of Phoenix, Arizona will be hosting a big Pow Wow, celebrating the 28th Annual Orme Dam Victory Days. This, however, is not your ordinary victory celebration. This party celebrates a “dam that never was”.

Orme Dam Victory Days. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, and wondered what this celebration was all about? For the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, however, there is no doubt. Twenty-eight years ago, over half of the Yavapai Nation was nearly destroyed by a devastating flood.

Fortunately for the Yavapai Nation, the flood was averted, when water did not back up behind Orme Dam, on account of the dam having not been constructed at the confluence of the Verde and Salt rivers east of Phoenix, as proposed by then U.S. Interior Secretary Stewart Udall.

But the story could have ended much differently. Had James G Watt never announced the decision to not build Orme Dam, the water would have eventually come. Today, much of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation would be under several feet of water. 17,000 acres, much of it fertile farm land, would have been lost at the bottom of a lake.

Needless to point out, but I shall anyway, this would not have had a positive impact on the Yavapai Nation. Who can blame them for wanting to throw a party every year, celebrating the fact that it didn’t happen. The Yavapai Nation was facing extinction.

The tribe fought hard to protect what land they had. Tribal members sold fry bread and occasionally cattle, to finance trips to Washington where they pleaded with officials to keep their land. After nearly ten years, the tribe finally persuaded the federal government to cancel the Orme Dam project.

So from November 20th, through November 22nd, the Yavapai Nation is celebrating.
There will be a parade, an all Indian rodeo, a fry bread contest, a 5K walk & run, and it’s all free and open to the general public. Oh, and did I mention the big Pow Pow?

Orme Dam Victory Days, held on the Fort McDowell reservation, is located about twenty-five miles northeast of Phoenix, Arizona, and can be reached by taking highway 87 north, from Phoenix toward Payson, or by taking Shea Blvd eastward past Fountain Hills, then north on highway 87.

Destination Arizona
Destination Arizona