Conspicuous consumption on a massive scale

I just started this blog and right away I was given this gift. I had to read this declaration of foolishness several times to make sure it wasn’t a hoax.

Some moron real-estate developer in Mesa Arizona is trying to recreate his younger years living in Virginia Beach, Virginia by diverting 100 million gallons of groundwater per year into a 125-acre water park complete with 12 foot waves and class 4 rapids, in a desert! And he came up with this brilliant idea just when the world is facing global warming and this country is experiencing an unprecedented drought in the southeast as well as in the very desert where this monument to human greed is to be built.

"It's about delivering a sport that's not typically available in an urban environment," said Richard Mladick, a Mesa real-estate developer who persuaded business leaders in suburban Mesa to support the proposal called the Waveyard.

No, Mr. Mladick, it’s about the irresponsible use of a limited resource for financial gain while your fellow Americans are praying to God for relief due to the lack of the very resource you long to frolic in.

"I couldn't imagine raising my kids in an environment where they wouldn't have the opportunity to grow up being passionate about the same sports that I grew up being passionate about," he said.

You live in a desert, sir. If you want your children to be passionate about going to the beach then go to the beach! Turning back millions of years of desert environment for the sake of your pleasure and financial gain, not to mention the misuse of one of our most valued commodities, is nothing short of criminal. Your unmitigated ego needs to be checked before you create an ecological disaster that will be felt for centuries.

And the sanity of those you talked into buying into this flawed ‘Eden’ should have their heads examined.


Of course, the real reason this idea has overtaken any semblance of reason is so his backers can make money off of the restaurants, shopping district, spa and hotel and conference center.

This project will force a deeper problem for neighboring Phoenix who is struggling to replenish its vast aquifer.

Arizona has been in a drought for a decade, and rivers that feed Phoenix and surrounding communities experienced near-record low measurements this year. The water lost to evaporation and spillage will require 60 to 100 million gallons of water per year. Water that will not go to replenishing that aquifer.

Once again mans greed has overshadowed common sense. This type of project is the very reason man’s ability as caretakers of this planet is called into question.

Arizona’s many golf courses is another colossal waste of water. But that’s another topic for another day.