The concept behind the design was to make children more aware of the presence and importance of water in Arizona by tracing the course of a raindrop as it fell on the state. The playground begins on top of an existing berm, used to represent the mountains of Arizona?EUR??,,????'???s high country. A fully accessible concrete path winds its way to the top through boulders and trees. At the summit, a hard surface seating area is located below an overhead fabric and stainless steel shade canopy designed to resemble thunderclouds. In this canopy a strobe light flashes periodically to simulate lightning, all-weather speakers pipe in the sound of rolling thunder and a stainless steel ?EUR??,,????'??rain ring?EUR??,,????'?? intermittently provides dripping water, simulating a light rain. It?EUR??,,????'???s a real thrill to see the look on the kids?EUR??,,????'??? faces when they hear the crack of the thunder and set off running to be drenched by the falling rain. On the banks along the stream are riparian plants, such as chuparosa and desert grasses, used to demonstrate that particular type of natural landscape environment. Hidden in low streamside landscaping are small ornamental frogs and turtles that squirt the children with a cooling spray of water. These small critters are a favorite with the younger children, who enjoy the quiet of the stream and low flow emitted by the animals. The stream terminates at a small tot-turf surfaced area representing the ?EUR??,,????'??ocean.?EUR??,,????'?? Here, children can splash in the grade-level ground sprays, or play on off-the-shelf whale spring toys. The second direction illustrates the course that water follows as it is used by humans. The first major feature the water encounters is a small concrete ?EUR??,,????'??dam.?EUR??,,????'?? On the upstream side is a small tot-turf surfaced ?EUR??,,????'??lake?EUR??,,????'?? on which several boats are implied with a complementary colored tot-turf. These boats are retrofitted with off-the-shelf water cannons so that kids can squirt each other to keep cool. This high-energy feature is a real hit with the older children. The dam is made of concrete and constructed to a height where it can be used as a fully interactive water play table for both able-bodied and wheelchair bound children. On one face of the dam is a bas-relief illustrating various plants and animals found along Arizona waterways. The concrete on either side of the sand play area is scored and colored brown and green to resemble ?EUR??,,????'??agricultural fields,?EUR??,,????'?? which are planted with grids of overhead shade trees representing agricultural ?EUR??,,????'??groves.?EUR??,,????'?? In the evening, the playground is lit by several area lights designed to resemble rainbows ?EUR??,,????'??+ the traditional symbol of the calm at the end of the storm. Although it?EUR??,,????'???s located in a desert, the project is very water conscious and uses state-of -the-art technology to assure that neither water or electricity is wasted. First, the system is 100% recirculating. It is also electronically programmed, with each of the features sequenced to turn on and off for a predetermined length of time. Throughout the playground are several ?EUR??,,????'??activation bollards,?EUR??,,????'?? which allow children to interrupt the sequence with the touch of a hand, making it fully interactive. Water quality is maintained through the use of a bromine ozone injection system which can be remotely monitored by city employees, as can all the pumps, valves and sequencers. It even has the added capability to call in, should some part of the system fall outside of the predetermined operation parameters. The project is the first of its kind in Arizona. It was completed in May of 2002 and has proven to be a tremendous success with the children of Tempe and those of other metropolitan area communities who come from far and wide to enjoy a day cooling off at the Tempe Beach Park Water Playground.