By Joseph Flaherty | Phoenix New Times
Before she was elected mayor of Phoenix, Kate Gallego was responsible for the demise of Lake Buchanan.
Buchanan Street, located one block south of Talking Stick Resort Arena, would flood whenever torrential monsoon rains swept into Phoenix. Thanks to the slope of the road and the absence of a storm drain, the road would transform into a small lake. Water would pour into neighboring buildings, causing a tremendous headache for businesses. The city of Phoenix used to send a truck to pump the water out of the street for hours and discharge the water into a storm sewer, only to do it again the next time the rains returned.
The diluvian phenomenon came to be known as Lake Buchanan to locals like Brian Cassidy.
