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Those Real Estate Developers in Mesa, Arizona Could Use a Geography Lesson

By sheril on November 21, 2007.

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On the bookshelf of bad ideas, this one would be an epic:

Developers Plan Massive Water Park in Arizona Desert

Unfortunately, this seemingly absurd story is moving toward full blown project. My post on our freshwater crisis is now up over at Correlations. Here's an excerpt:

Do we, uh, really need a new water park in Arizona? Because the idea just doesn't sit right with this conservation scientist. Actually, it shouldn't really sit right with anyone who has an interest in the future. Sure, water parks are fun for an afternoon - and lucrative for real estate developers. In fact, the one in charge of the project was quoted in the Seattle Times:

'Mladick, 39, said he wanted to create the kind of lush environment he remembers from growing up in Virginia Beach, Va., and surfing in Morocco, Indonesia, Hawaii and Brazil.'

Here's the thing though Mladick...Virginia beach and all those other places you fondly remember aren't ARIZONA - which happens to be a DESERT! Now I can wax poetic on the reasons why these are entirely different systems, but I assuredly expect that most anyone with a map or thermometer can figure it out on their own.

Translation: This is a terrible idea! More on the the proposed project and our freshwater crisis here...

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conservation

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Um, as someone who was born in Mesa, AZ, I hope my disapproval goes double or triple....

I'm not so sure that a water park consumes more water than the ubiquitous golf-courses. Water should presumably be allocated on revenue per gallon. I wouldn't be surprised if Phoenicians deprived of a water park visit might instead drive to Flagstaff for the weekend. That would waste far more resources....

You're right Sheril, this is a terrible idea. Why are financial ventures always put ahead of what's best for the planet? What a horrible waste of resources. If these people want to see the ocean, they should head west.

Yeesh. You'd have thought they would at least have the brains to make it an indoor park. Why is it that no one out west can see their impending water issues? The midwest certainly can- we're drafting rules on water sharing for when the southwest starts begging for Great Lakes water.

I've been reading essays by Daniel De Voto, a writer and conservationist who was active before and after WW2. What you are reporting here sounds very familiar, albeit even more excessive than anything he mentioned.

Whopps, make that Bernard De Voto. I have no idea why I put the wrong name in.