Policy and Politics of an Urban Park: Gilbert Water Ranch

The Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch (“the Riparian”) is an urban park and water recharge facility in Gilbert, Arizona. Through interviewing several individuals involved in the process of conceptualizing. creating, and maintaining the Riparian and researching its past and present, this paper seeks to understand how the urban park came to be and how it appears today. This includes a history of groundwater management and recharge in Arizona, the voices of people who have worked on the Riparian, the current state of the preserve, and maintenance challenges to inform readers the importance of such areas and promote the creation of similar multi-faceted recharge areas. Freedom of information act requests, academic literature, town minutes, media accounts, and information from the Town of Gilbert website place the interviews into context and illustrate the multi-use nature of the park. Furthermore, through descriptions of the history, design, stakeholders, conservation and educational value, this paper seeks to demonstrate the full picture of the urban park from past to present. The Riparian Preserve and its history illustrate the importance of gazing into the future of water conservation, and how doing so could create an amenity to be enjoyed for generations to come.