Rio Salado Town Lake: From Concept to Reality—June 1999

Abstract

The Salt River is normally dry as it cuts through the Phoenix metropolitan area (commonly known as the Valley of the Sun) bisecting the City of Tempe from east to west. A series of seven reservoirs, constructed in the early 1900's to supply water and power to the Salt River valley, store and divert all river flows to an extensive canal system except under flood flow conditions. As a result, the Salt River flood plain has been a neglected and ugly strip of land, subject to infrequent flooding, mining, and illegal dumping. In 1966, the Arizona State University College of Architecture, located in Tempe, conceived the idea of turning this neglected riverbed into a recreation area. The idea sat dormant for many years until the Rio Salado (Spanish for Salt River) Commission was formed in the late 1970's. In 1987, the concept of improving the Salt River through a Rio Salado Project was submitted to the voters of Maricopa County for approval. The Countywide Initiative failed at the ballot box in all jurisdictions except the City of Tempe.