Watch Tempe Town Lake go from empty to full in cool timelapse

The wait is over: Tempe Town Lake is back to looking like, well, a lake.

The city began refilling the lake last week after draining it to replace a rubber dam.

Much ado has been made about the emptying of the lake — including the city creating a “staycation” for some of the fish that call the lake home — but this video may be one of the best parts.

It’s certainly very satisfying watching the dry lakebed slowly fill to the level we’re all a little more familiar with.

While the lake may look normal, Tempe officials wanted to remind everyone that operations are not. No water sports are allowed on the lake yet, though the city expects them to be permissible again on April 30.

It’s also worth noting that more water is still being pumped into the lake. Officials estimated it would take two weeks to fill, meaning it shouldn’t be done until April 26 or so.

Tempe Town Lake was drained in February so the city could replace one of the rubber dams at the lake’s west end. One of the bladders famously popped several years ago, effectively draining the lake.

The new hydraulically-operated steel and concrete dam is quite the setup: The new dam will use eight steel gates mounted on a “roller-compacted concrete foundation” about 100 feet from the existing dam, according to the city.

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