Hours from the California coast, surfers are hoping one of the closest places to catch a wave is in the desert.
At least four major surfing lagoons are suggested for the Palm Springs region, which is better known for arts festivals, mountain hiking, and golf, and has no natural waves in sight.
However, some environmentalists and residents say it doesn’t make water sense to build large resorts in one of California’s driest places during one of the driest periods in recent history. They claim that water in the giant surfing pools evaporates quickly in the desert heat, wasting a valuable resource, while proponents argue the waves boost tourism, boost recreation and use less water than well-loved golf courses.
“Is that your best use of limited water resources in these climate-related droughts, are golf courses and surf spots?” said Conner Everts, executive director of the Southern California Watershed Alliance. “It’s like a fantasy. It’s like Dubai.”
California is experiencing an unrelenting drought made worse by climate change, and its nearly 40 million residents have received repeated calls to conserve water in recent years. The Palm Springs metropolitan area sits on an aquifer but receives remarkably little rainfall and relies on water from the State Water Project, which is running below capacity, and the Colorado River, a critical U.S. water utility that is overburdened.
Local water district officials say there is enough water in a 20-year plan to support the new wave pools and resorts.
The proposals, which range from private, luxury communities to a public wave park, come as surfing’s popularity rises in the United States. It became an Olympic sport last year, and industry experts are forecasting its continued growth as travel recovers after pandemic shutdowns and amid a surge in inland surf parks, according to Global Industry Analysts Inc., based in San Jose, California.
Cheyne Magnusson, a pro surfer who is remodeling a Palm Springs water park and adding a wave pool, is counting on it. He said the area is ideal because so many die-hard surfers live within driving distance and the waves at the beach can be unreliable. It’s also a popular vacation spot, he said, and beginners might want to try surfing in a safe environment.
“A lot of people have today off and really want to surf. I can guarantee they’re going to get a good wave, and they’re going to get a lot of them,” said Magnusson, who has helped develop a wave park in landlocked Waco, Texas.
Magnusson’s project is under construction and two more are approved. In nearby La Quinta, a proposed 400-acre development around a .5-mile wave pool is facing opposition from homeowners who have moved to the area in search of a quiet residential community for retirement.
They say the proposed development of Coral Mountain will attract noisy surf festivals and ruin stargazing with its bright lights. And they are concerned that the pool’s expected annual consumption of 120 acre-feet of water — in addition to the water used in the facility’s 600 homes, hotels and retail stores — will deplete the community’s water supply.
According to the nonprofit Water Education Foundation, one acre-foot lasted between three and four California households for a year in 2016.
“With the evaporation and the wind and everything that’s going to happen…” said Alena Callimanis, a member of the group La Quinta Residents for Responsible Development, “the optics are just crazy.”
But John Gamlin, president of CM Wave Development, noted that the wave pool will use eight to 10 times less water than a golf course, and a golf course has already been approved for the site. He said many local backyard pools use potable water, but the pool will use non-potable water that will be treated in an on-site filtration plant.
“Ultimately, we are confident that the Coral Mountain project will be among the most responsible water users in the valley,” Gamlin said in an email, adding that residential areas and open spaces make up the bulk of the project’s outdoor water use, neither will use potable water.
The Coachella Valley Water District, which serves much of the region, said whether building projects is up to local officials, but the water is there. While storage of the aquifer hit a bottom in 2009, supplies have since improved through reclamation efforts and conservation, said Lorraine Garcia, a spokeswoman for the district.
However, critics note that the district has replenished groundwater with imported water sources, and these are limited. State officials recently said water officials will receive 5% of what they requested this year, over and above what is needed for critical activities like drinking and bathing in the driest start of a California year in at least a century.
The conditions come amid a tourism boom in the greater Palm Springs area, which became a tourist destination over a century ago when residents sought out the hot, dry climate believing it was good for their health. Music and arts festivals have attracted more younger visitors over the past decade, said Scott White, president of Visit Greater Palm Springs. In the summer months, the temperature often exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 C).
“To me, the surf parks just make natural sense,” White said.
Desert dweller and surfer Dave Hilts said he’d love to try the wave pools for extra practice – although he’d still head to the beach regularly to surf. He founded the Coachella Valley Surf Club to bring inland kids from low-income families a chance to surf, and works with a teacher who started a surf club at her desert high school.
“It will bring a lot of new people to surf who never surfed before,” he said.
But that growth worries Ruth Langridge, a senior researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz who focuses on water law and policy. She said she has long been wary of large-scale developments in the desert because of the need for water — from pools or otherwise.
“You can lay down an agricultural area, but you can’t lay down a city once you’ve built it,” Langridge said. “There are real concerns about development in places where there will not be enough water.”