Plans for a giant water slide in downtown San Diego may be in jeopardy after Los Angeles city officials denied the application for a similar event in downtown L.A. on Friday due to concerns water would be wasted amid a drought.
The Slide the City, organized by San Diego-based McFarlane Promotions, announced earlier this year that San Diego would be one of the locations for the event, which has been hosted by other cities such as Salt Lake City and Boise, Idaho. The Los Angeles event was set for Sept. 28. It would have allowed participants who purchased tickets to splash down a three-block slip-and-slide.
Los Angeles denied the application after the LA Department of Water and Power expressed concerns that the event was “not consistent with the seriousness of the statewide drought,” LA Public Works spokesman Paul Gomez said.
The event organizers proposed reclaiming water from the event for irrigation use at Griffith Park, but Los Angeles Recreation and Parks officials were concerned there would be chlorine in the water, Gomez said.
Announcement of the event earlier this summer prompted petitions to be circulated telling the city not to approve the event due to the drought.
The San Diego event is not slated until sometime next year, but the severe California drought shows no sign of letting up in 2015, according to the National Weather Service. If the drought continues, San Diego city officials may follow Los Angeles’ suit and not approve the event.
— City News Service contributed to this report
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