“It is exceptionally tone deaf to approve an
enormous surf park in Washington City.”
Trouble is brewing, again between surfers and
everyday folk who like to drink water. But who could forget the
last major conflict betwixt the two when it reared its head in
greater Palm Springs after residents became enraged at a planned
wave tank in the desert town. Coral Mountain was supposed to be a
nice community with a hotel, wellness spa and million dollar homes
all around a Kelly Slater tank. It would have used less water than
a golf course but the optics were not great and the aforementioned
angry townspeople shut it right down in a series of hot n heavy
city council meetings.
Today, the same battle lines are being drawn except not in the
glorious Coachella Valley but Southern Utah instead. For it is
there that the world’s largest PerfectSwell tub is currently being
dug. Alaia, Hawaiian for “joy,” will feature an 18-acre lake, homes
and good vibes.
Except the region is in the midst of a devastating drought.
There is enough water to get through this year, according to the
Washington County Water Conservancy, but not next if winter ’25/’26
is dry.
Cue bitter burghers.
Council member Troy Bellison, who voted against the project,
voiced concerns by declaring, “In
light of the ask of the developers, and the need of our future
growth, it is exceptionally tone deaf to approve an enormous surf
park in Washington City.”
Council member Kurt Ivie, who voted for the project, countered
that the cauldron is being built on a farm that has its own
brackish wells, saying, “Stucki Farm was a beautiful area where
they grew fruit. The owners then sold that to a development group
back in 2006, and they got a planned unit development that was
approved by the city council at the time. These people have a right
to develop, but again, I think the point is, the city, they will
never get one drop of city water, period, for this pool. It’s their
own water.”
Do you think that argument will win the day or do you think
settlers will descend with pitchforks and ire?
Also, why isn’t there a Kelly Slater plow in the Great Salt
Lake?
