Only about 20 supporters showed up at a community meeting Wednesday night to hear a presentation from “Revive Redding” on a proposal to bring a 1,000-foot water slide to the city in July.
The meeting at the Cascade Theatre was a chance for the public to hear from promoters about the event called “Slide the City,” where a 1,000-foot portion of Placer Street between Orange and Chestnut will be closed to make way for a giant water slide. Although there were no detractors at the meeting, there has been criticism that 10,000 gallons of water will be used while California is in the midst of a historic drought. Organizer Rocky Slaughter says the water be trucked in from either Arizona or Oregon and then added to the Sacramento River at the end of the day.
“The water will be sucked up into some trucks and trucked right over to the waste water treatment plant in Redding, purified and released into the Sacramento River, actually let me correct myself, introduced into the Sacramento River,” Slaughter said. “Because we are bringing 10,000 gallons from outside the drought zone and literally adding to the California water supply for this event.”
The event will also serve as a way for those gathered to learn about ways to conserve water, including letting their lawns go brown, using low flow shower heads and not washing cars. Slaughter says that the 36 percent cutbacks the state is asking for is achievable, and he hopes that by using a little water for a fun event, that much more will be saved.