Tempe Town Lake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tempe Town Lake |
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Bridges across the Tempe Town Lake on the Salt River, with Tempe Beach Park in the foreground
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 Tempe Town Lake
Location in Arizona
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| Location | Tempe, Arizona, United States |
| Coordinates | 33°25′56″N 111°55′55″W / 33.43222°N 111.93194°W |
| Lake type | Reservoir |
| Primary inflows |
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| Primary outflows | Salt River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Built | August 8, 1997 |
| First flooded | June 2, 1999 |
| Max. length | 2 mi (3.2 km) |
| Max. width | 1,200 ft (370 m) |
| Surface area | 224 acres (0.91 km2) |
| Average depth | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
| Max. depth | 19 ft (5.8 m) |
| Water volume | 977 million US gallons (3,700,000 m3) |
| Surface elevation | 1,150 ft (350 m) |
| Settlements | Tempe |
Tempe Town Lake is a man-made lake in Tempe, Arizona, United States. It is a reservoir that holds water all year round. The lake is located near Tempe Butte, where the Salt River and Indian Bend Wash meet. Most of its water comes from the Colorado River through the Central Arizona Project.
On July 20, 2010, a part of the dam holding the lake broke. This caused a lot of water to flow into the Salt River. The lake almost completely drained.
Contents
Building Tempe Town Lake
In March 1989, the city of Tempe decided on a big plan called the Rio Salado Master Plan. This plan was about making the land around the river better. They studied the water, the Mill Avenue Bridges, and how people would use the area. Soon, work began near Tempe Beach Park to prepare the river channel. The plan was to create a continuous body of water.
In 1995, more people joined the Rio Salado project team. They started building a bike path about 1 mi (1.6 km) long along the river's south bank. This path has cool public art along the way. The city also worked on designs for the lake and parks. The next year, drawings for Tempe Town Lake were finished. The city named 800 acres (3.2 km2) of land, including the lake, as Rio Salado Park. On March 19, 1997, companies were asked to bid on building the lake. Construction contracts were given out on June 12, and building officially started on August 8.
Water from the Central Arizona Project (CAP) began filling Tempe Town Lake on June 2, 1999. By July 14, the lake was full. On November 7, Tempe Town Lake opened for everyone to enjoy.
Tempe Beach Park Fun
Tempe Beach Park was first built in 1931. It was completely updated in 1999 when Tempe Town Lake was created. The park connects to five miles (8.0 km) of paths. These paths are great for biking, jogging, or skating around the lake.
Things to Do at the Lake
The park has a historic baseball field. It is used for baseball and softball games, and even carnival games.
In 2002, a fun Splash Playground opened at Tempe Beach Park. This one-acre (4,000 m2) playground lets kids play in the water. It also teaches them about the water cycle. The water is always moving across the playground. It is then collected, cleaned, and reused.
The park also has an amphitheater. This is a large outdoor stage area that can hold 5,000 people. It is used for concerts and outdoor shows.
You can rent boats from Boat Rentals of America at Tempe Beach Park.
Many clubs use the lake for boating. The Arizona State University Sailing Club and the Arizona Yacht Club sail from the Tempe Town Lake Marina. Private boat owners also use this marina.
Several rowing clubs practice and race here. These include Rio Salado Rowing Club and Arizona State University's Rowing Club. All boat owners need special licenses.
The Arizona Dragon Boat Association and other outrigger clubs also use the lake.
Events at the Lake
Many events happen at Tempe Beach Park each year. These include the Fiesta Bowl New Year's Eve Block Party and the Circle K Tempe Music Festival. Other events are Oktoberfest, APS Fantasy of Lights, and the Fourth of July fireworks show.
Many charity walks and runs also take place at Tempe Town Lake. Examples are the AIDS Walk Arizona & 5k Run and the Walk to Save Animals.
The lake hosts several triathlon events. These include the Tempe International Triathlon and the Ironman Arizona Triathlon. The Ironman Arizona Triathlon happens every November. The 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim part of the race is held in Tempe Town Lake.
Rowing, sailing, and dragon boat races happen throughout the year. There is also the annual Rowers Triathlon. This event includes a 4,000-meter rowing machine race, body exercises, and a five-kilometer run.
Lake Features
The lake was finished in 1999. It uses inflatable rubber barriers in the riverbed to hold the water. The lake is almost two miles (3.2 km) long. It has an average surface area of 224 acres (0.91 km2). The average depth is 16 feet (4.9 m), and the deepest part is 19 feet (5.8 m).
The lake was first filled with one billion US gallons (3,800,000 m3) of water. This water was bought from the Central Arizona Project. Water is lost each day due to evaporation. This loss is made up by buying more water or using recycled water. A special system collects any water that seeps out and pumps it back into the lake. This means almost no water is lost through seepage.
A park surrounds the lake. There are also tall office and apartment buildings nearby. You can go fishing and boating on the lake. You need a permit or can rent a boat for the day. The lake also has a small marina on its north side.
Fishing at the Lake
Tempe Town Lake is stocked with rainbow trout every month from November to February. Other types of fish found naturally in the lake include largemouth bass, yellow bass, tilapia, carp, channel catfish, and bluegill. You need an Arizona fishing license to fish here. All motorboats must have a four-stroke marine engine.
Lake Safety System
To keep people safe, Tempe Town Lake has an emergency warning system. This system warns users about flash floods, strong winds, lightning, and other dangers.
The system uses weather information, sensors, and communication tools. It has visual and sound warnings. It also helps educate the public. The system works in three steps: Watch, Warning, and Evacuation.
Three steel towers around the lake have sirens and flashing lights. If winds are high, two white strobes flash faster as the wind gets stronger. If lightning is near, an amber light flashes automatically. If people need to leave the lake (for example, due to a dam break or other emergency), the sirens make a loud "alert" sound. A red light also flashes. These stay on until the lake is safe again.
Each tower gets its power from solar panels.
This system has been working since November 1999. It has kept the lake safe during monsoon season and emergencies. This includes the 2010 dam break and a train accident in 2020.
The Lake's Dams
The old dams were made of strong, flexible rubber tubes. These tubes were fixed to a concrete base. A system controlled how much air was in the tubes. This allowed them to inflate or deflate. There was also a safety device that would deflate the tubes during floods.
Each section of the dam, or "bladder," was about 240 feet (73 m) long. It weighed about 80,000 pounds (36 metric tons). The rubber was more than one inch (2.5 cm) thick. Sometimes, a small amount of water flowed over the top of the west dams. This created a 19-foot (5.8 m) waterfall. This water was then pumped back into the lake.
The east dams were five feet (1.5 m) high. They sat on a two-foot (61 cm) concrete base. The west dams were 16 feet (4.9 m) high. They sat on a three-foot (91 cm) base.
Tempe's old dams were controlled by computers. They kept the air pressure at six pounds per square inch (41 kPa). They could be lowered slowly depending on flood conditions. The west dams started to wear out quickly. So, the city planned to replace them. This replacement was expected to cost $2.5 million USD. Work was supposed to start in spring 2010. However, due to heavy rain, it was delayed until July.
In 2014, Tempe started building a new dam 100 feet (30 m) west of the old one. This new dam was finished in spring 2016. It has seven large steel gates. These gates are over 100 feet (30 m) long and weigh 230,000 pounds (100 metric tons). They are the largest of their kind in the world.
Dam Break in 2010
On July 20, 2010, around 9:45 pm, one part of the inflatable dam on the west side broke. This released a huge amount of water into the usually dry Salt River bed. The lake started draining right away. Emergency workers quickly cleared the area. The lake's warning sirens also started sounding within minutes. By the next morning, the lake had lost about three-quarters of its water. Some areas of the lake had only three feet of water left. Most of the 10,000 fish in the lake were swept away. The fish that remained were expected to die. Fishing was not expected to start again for about a year.
City officials thought the lake would reopen by November 1. They believed the dam collapse would not cause too much economic harm if it reopened by then. The city said that new parts for two of the remaining dam sections were already there. They would be installed as soon as possible. The part for the broken section arrived in Tempe by mid-August. The city built a temporary dam. This allowed the lake to be refilled while the northernmost dam section was replaced later.
Some fish that survived the dam break were stuck in shallow pools. On July 23, these fish were collected. They were fed to a six-foot-long (1.8 m) alligator at the Tempe Center for the Arts. Most of the fish were given to other animals at the Phoenix Herpetological Society.
On October 8, 2010, crews began refilling the lake. Water came from the Salt River reservoir system, from Roosevelt Lake. Tempe officials used their share of this lake water. This saved the city a lot of money compared to using water from the CAP. After about two and a half weeks, the lake reopened for activities on October 26, 2010.
Water Releases from the Lake
The Salt River bed in the Phoenix area is often dry. This is because its water is used for farming and other things upstream. Tempe Town Lake uses artificial structures and the riverbed to hold water. So, the inflatable dams must be lowered when the Salt River has high water flow. This allows the river water to pass through. The lake has released water many times when river levels rise due to heavy rain or melting snow.
On December 31, 2004, the eastern dam was lowered for the first time. Heavy rains meant that 20,000 cubic feet (570 m3) of water per second had to be released into the Salt River. The dams are built to handle a maximum flow of 64,000 cubic feet per second (1,800 m3/s). More water releases happened in February 2005, January 2008, and February 2009.
Tempe Town Lake Bridge
The Valley Metro Light Rail project started building a bridge over Tempe Town Lake in early 2005. This bridge was designed by T. Y. Lin International. A special lighting ceremony for the bridge happened on December 9, 2006. This celebrated the completion of the most important parts of the bridge. The whole project was finished by December 27, 2008. That's when the light rail line officially opened to the public. When a train passes at night, LED lights on the bridge shine different colors onto the lake. This makes the bridge look beautiful at night.
