Quote:
Originally Posted by rocksteady
This is a bit out there…but all the recent development along the lake got me wondering- has there ever been any talk of extending the lake? I know it’s not on the books now, especially with the new dam and the difficult terrain east and west of the lake…but through engineering and a vision could it be done, with money of course? I see this massive undertaking in LA across many municipalities to make the LA River a multi-city green belt and encourage development along its shores. Granted, they aren’t filling it up with water, but in a similar nature, what possibilities would extending the lake from Mesa, through Tempe, to just south of downtown Phoenix do for the region? It could serve as another large reservoir, help cool the area and counter the UHI effect, spur development in areas that can be developed, create new neighborhoods, bridge the 3 cities like the LR did. Obviously just pie in the sky thinking but wondered if there had ever been any talk and thought it would be fun to discuss the possibilities, pros and cons, etc.
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This conversation might be best for the General Phoenix Discussion Board, since it could spark off to a very large tangent from development in Tempe. That being said, I don't think it would be appropriate to expand the lake for a few different reasons.
First and foremost, what makes the lake so successful for Tempe is that it is such a unique feature in the valley, and in the southwest. It's scale is just right, were it offers a large amount of lakefront property , without being something so large that would never be developed. The lakefront is finally starting to be significantly developed, but it is still far from being filled up. Imagine if this was 3 times the size, it would just be made up by a bunch of scattered projects. Not as impressive.
Second, logistics. Any development west of the current dam would be severely limited by it's proximity to Sky Harbor. We already complain about how the FAA is restricting growth in downtown Tempe, imagine how much worse it would be moving further west.
Lack of connectivity is also an issue. The reason why Tempe has had such success is because the river was so close to downtown and very well connected. This is not the case anywhere else in the valley. The areas surrounding the river for most of its run through greater Phoenix are made up by sand and rock quarries, industrial lots, water treatment plants, and basically everything the city didn't want near its neighborhoods. That also means that it is disconnected from mass transit routes during most of its stretch.
But most importantly, environmental issues. Big lakes in the desert lose a lot of water to evaporation. Yeah, some of that evaporation leads to a cooler feeling along the water, but where is this water coming from? We can't bring water hundreds of miles from an already decreasing water source to have it evaporate. The decrease in UHI would be negligible, and not worth the loss of such a precious resource.
I do think the river needs to be fixed. It is a shame that most of the valley has given its back to it, but building dams and lakes really is not the way to go. I think what LA is doing is a good case study to follow. The idea of having a long linear park linking the valley would be a much better solution. Another example to look at would be San Antonio, everyone knows the iconic river walk around their downtown, but the park extends much longer beyond that. It goes from being a very urban element like that of Tempe Town Lake, to an awesome linear park with rehabilitated wetlands, rebuilt riparian landscapes, and great bike paths.
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