A lot of people came to Arizona from other places. Naturally, you pick up pretty quickly on some differences.
For instance, the first thing you notice about river and creek beds in Arizona is that they don’t have any water in them.
A little strange, perhaps, but you get used to it. But what really took some getting used to, at least for people who have lived in Arizona for a while, is water in the part of the Rio Salado that runs through Tempe — all the time.
I’m talking about Tempe Town Lake, of course. A project whose development no one would call perfect, but one with a result that most people seem pretty happy about. Certainly driving past on the Loop 202 and seeing the glittering buildings and the shimmer of the water off the lake is different from how it used to be, and better.
The lake celebrated its 25th anniversary recently. It’s one of those things that seems like it couldn’t have been that long ago, and yet it seems like it’s always been there.
This week on Valley 101, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we talked to a couple of people who were instrumental in getting the lake project done. Neil Giuliano was mayor of Tempe when it finally happened, and Diana Kaminski played all kinds of roles in the project, as you’ll hear. The next time you see the lake, you’ll definitely think about them.
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This episode was produced by Abby Bessinger and Amanda Luberto. You can reach Abby at abby.bessinger@gannett.com or follow her on X, formerly Twitter @abby_bessinger. You can reach Amanda at aluberto@gannett.com or follow her on X, formerly Twitter @amandaluberto.
Catch up on previous Valley 101 episodes here:
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: The story of Tempe Town Lake, a desert oasis in Arizona