Tempe Town Lake reopens for water recreation activities; debris pileup prompted closure

TEMPE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- Tempe Town Lake says boating is available once again for recreators after temporarily suspending water recreation activities as water releases brought additional debris to float downstream into the lake.

City officials said last week that popular activities like paddle boating, kayaking, standup paddle boarding, rowing, and sailing won’t be available until further notice. “Salt River Project (SRP) is continuing to increase water releases from several reservoirs in the region. This has caused increased debris such as tree branches,” officials explained in a blog post on the city’s website. Increases in water release are mostly being driven by recent strong storms and a deeper-than-normal snowpack.

In an update on Monday, the city said that a temporary buoy line has been installed into the lake dam as work continued into the water runoffs. As typical during this time of year, lake users should not cross buoy lines as inflows continue to enter Tempe Town Lake during this season. Those areas are closed to visitors for safety reasons. “Inflows from the SRP system are a routine and seasonal event, and the dam continues to operate normally and handle the flows,” the city explained in a news release.