Tempe Town Lake dam overflow (Photo Credit: cogdogblog/Flickr/CC BY)
The Tempe Town Lake dam was supposed to last for 25 to 30 years, said the experts. The inflatable rubber dam created Town Lake for the city of Tempe, Arizona, is a tourist destination and point of civic pride for residents. According to Associated Press reports, however, one of the 11-year-old dam segments burst. Two-thirds to three-fourths of all the water in Tempe Town Lake – thousands of gallons – gushed into the connecting Salt River, a dry riverbed that is known as a spot for homeless people to stay during summer months.
No injuries reported after Tempe Town Lake explosion
Reports indicate that the spontaneous explosion of the 16-foot-high section of the Tempe Town Lake dam caused no injuries, and the water has placed no structures in immediate danger. Area residents said they heard a loud “ka-boom” and felt the ground shake near Arizona State University. Seconds afterward, witnesses saw animals fleeing the scene. After several minutes, safety alarms began to sound. Whether transients camping in the Salt River bed heard the alarms is unknown.
One billion gallons, flowing out at 15,000 cubic feet per second
That’s the flow at Tempe Town Lake, says Mayor Hugh Hallman. City officials apparently knew back in 2007 that Tempe’s hot, dry climate was taking its toll on the rubber dam. Yet repair action was not taken at that time. By April 2009, the makers of Tempe Town Lake dam made a safety recommendation, but Tempe chose to ignore the warning.
What about the homeless?
While the alarm was sounded, currents reports are unclear as to what affect the Tempe Town Lake dam explosion had on the transient population. On the surface, it seems that this could be a simple case of negligence and mechanical failure. However, when the cost of homelessness is factored in, there could be fiscal import. Various media sources indicate that chronic homelessness costs the United States $10.95 billion each year in public funds. If such individuals were given permanent homes, Forbes reports that that expense would drop to $7.88 billion.
There will be residency
In Maricopa County, where Tempe is located, AZCentral.com reports that there are approximately 8,000 homeless individuals on any given day. If those 8,000 people – only some of whom may live in the Salt River area near Tempe Town Lake – had homes, not only would the nation be saving money, but Maricopa County would reportedly save as much as 50 percent on emergency resources. If the Tempe Town Lake dam incident moves more homeless people into permanent housing, something truly positive will result from this minor civic disaster.
Sources:
A look at Tempe Town Lake on its 10th anniversary
I'd like to complain that this article doesn't target the true issue at hand. As a native to Arizona, and living just ten minutes from the dam, I'm worried about how much money it will cost, and how much time it will take to restore Tempe Town Lake back to its former state. I thought that since this website is focused on news from a fiscal standpoint, it would target a matter more at hand to the locals of Tempe. Instead, you have inserted opinions that have nothing to do with the issue at hand and so your article is fragmented and unintelligent.
You made unfounded accusations against Tempe's care of the dam that were short of lies. The dam has been carefully kept and checked every month since the lake's filling in 1999. The crew assigned to care of the dam has even repaired 2 tears in the rubber bladders since it was built. Furthermore, if you were more aware of current events, the mayor of Tempe had planned to rebuild the dam starting this week. They had even already ordered parts to begin building, well before it broke.
In the section of the article entitled "What About The Homeless?", you have raggedly jumped topics from the dam breaking due to mechanical failure (and the dam is not 'mechanical', by the way) to how the United States Government could save millions by placing the homeless in permanent housing. That has nothing to do with the Tempe homeless, who in fact, were evacuated and warned of the flood well before it reached the Salt River area.
Then in your last section, you change topics completely from reporting on the monetary issues ignited by the flood to how Tempe could make the world a better place by spending money on housing the homeless permanently. Even worse, you did not offer any ideas as to how this goal could properly be achieved.
In conclusion I pose a request: please stop reading this man's articles, as he clearly has no grasp of proper essay writing or current events. I thank you for reading my comments.
Thanks for reading, Morgan. Regarding "unfounded accusations," follow the sourcing. Apparently the entire national media has it wrong, in your opinion. Regarding raising other issues regarding costs, this is why the site has a comments section. You're welcome to bring information to the community; I encourage it. Regarding the rest of your sour grapes, you're entitled to your opinion. However, you could have talked more about the costs of repairing the dam that you seem so concerned about, rather than trash talking. The world has more than enough of that.