This California City Is Building a Water Park, Despite a Five-Year Drought

Walking through the city of Dublin in California, you see reminders of the five-year drought. Signs at the city's Emerald Glen Park explain that reused water is used on the grass, and a streetfront fountain sits bone dry.

So it comes as a bit of a surprise that the construction of two huge pools and towering water chutes are right nearby.

Dublin, a suburb just outside San Francisco, is being pulled in two directions. On one side, city officials say the community deserves a quality pool so local kids can learn to swim. On the other, residents have spent the past few years letting their lawns die and letting cars go unwashed in the name of water conservation.

Dublin has been planning to build a $43.8 million aquatic center for about 15 years, and construction was set in motion last year, city spokeswoman Lori Taylor said. It will open next spring, costing 500,000 gallons of water to fill initially, and 3,153 gallons of water per day to maintain, according to the Dublin San Ramon Services District, which sells water to Dublin.

But California has been hit hard by a lack of rain since 2011. The El Niño storm pattern that was expected to dump record amounts of rain and snow last winter only provided what the state usually gets in an average non-drought year. Some scientists have blamed the drought purely on an overreliance on California's limited resources, but others point to shifting rain patterns due to climate change as one reason why the state is struggling.

While statewide water conservation has been reduced from a mandatory cutback of 25 percent to a voluntary amount of 10 percent in the Dublin area, the East Bay is still recovering. Meanwhile, the city has received some pushback from residents over the new water park. A Change.org petition raised about 200 signatures to stop the project, citing traffic concerns and water conservation issues.

"I think if the city was concerned about its image, it would be hailed if they had decided to halt the plan based on the issue of water use," Dublin resident Marty Lundin told me. "I think people will look at the city and say 'don't they know we're in a drought' and wonder if they care about it."

But Dublin has a little-known reputation as a leader in recycled water, said Dublin San Ramon Services District spokeswoman Sue Stephenson. And nearly every green spot in town that can use recycled water does use recycled water, Mayor David Haubert told Motherboard.

All city medians and all city parks—except for one that's uphill and would cost too much energy to pump up—use recycled water, which is treated wastewater. This water is excellent for grass and some plants, but sickening if consumed. And it would otherwise be pumped out to the San Francisco Bay and dumped. "Ninety percent of their water use for their parks are now on recycled water," Stephenson said.

Dublin San Ramon Services District, a public utility that isn't owned by the city of Dublin, also established the state's first residential recycled water program in 2014, which gives out recycled water to people for free to use for landscaping.

Taylor said Dublin has conserved 150 million gallons of water a year through using recycled water throughout the city, rather than drinkable water, to keep plants alive.

Mayor Haubert said that success should give the city the opportunity to swim: "Literally, the pool is a drop in the bucket of the water usage in the community." He also contests the local nomenclature. "A water park is Waterworld," he said. "This isn't Waterworld."

That being said, the aquatic center isn't a small-time pool-and-diving-board setup. If some people call it a water park, it's because it looks like one. The slides include twists and closed tunnels, a children's area will include sprays and a drop-bucket, and there will be an outdoor pool and an indoor pool with a separate swim instruction area. And after the initial 500,000 gallons of water, the pool and chutes will use just over 1 million gallons of water per year due to evaporation and filtration loss, Taylor said.

The city's decision is rooted in a desire to keep Dublin appealing to families—and thus attractive to new homeowners and companies in an increasingly populated area. In a Silicon Valley-spillover area where home prices can easily exceed $1 million, residents expect certain amenities. And Taylor said the only public pool in town is at the city's sole high school, which is so shallow that the swim team is forbidden to dive from blocks during meets. It's too shallow for them to even consider having a water polo team.

Haubert said the slides and children's areas will likely be shut down during intense drought years, and the pools will close if other regional community aquatic centers close due to drought conditions.

Meanwhile Dublin is expected to continue conserving water, Stephenson said. In July, the utility's customers (which includes the nearby city of San Ramon) used 32.5 percent less water than in July 2013, despite only being asked to save at least 10 percent.

"This is small compared to what they've done (to save water)," she said. "They deserve it."

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