The Gigantic Wavegarden Surf Park in Del Valle Is Still Happening

If you thought Austin's giant wave park was dead in the water (sorry)—or just plain forgot about it—think again.

Quite the contrary, according to website The Inertia, in a story we never would have seen if we hadn't run across a link on TexasMonthly.com. The surfing website reports that the 160-acre wave park is scheduled to open this spring.

The coming construction of the Wavegarden—the first of its kind in the United States, according to the The Inertia—was announced last June by local news outlets. As KXAN-TV reported then, the facility will be on Highway 71 at Navarro Road, in Del Valle.

The Colorado-based Coors family worked briefly with Hawaii's Honokea Surf Villages and Resorts in the early stages of the developing the park, which Spanish engineering company Wavegarden is designing. It will be called NLand Surf Park and will feature a 13-acre lagoon, lodging, food, retail, and a surf school, the story added.

In a story last year, the website reported that Wavegarden has developed a park in Snowdonia, Wales—a move that makes sense because it rains most of the time there. According to a press release quoted by The Inertia, however, the Austin park developers make vague assurances of "off the grid" water and wastewater management, rainwater collection, and working with Austin Energy to use renewable energy sources in the park.

Update: On Monday, March 28, NLand Surf Park founder and CEO Doug Coors issued the following statement via email through a local public relations company, Elizabeth Christian PR: "A recent press release issued by Honokea and media reports based on the release have resulted in some confusion. NLand Surf Park is on schedule to open this spring, but we have not announced an opening date. We worked with Honokea in the early stages of the project, but the company is no longer involved. We are excited about the future of surfing in Austin, Texas and look forward to sharing more information about NLand in the near future."​ The PR company also clarified that any consultation with members of the Texas Legislature was for informational purposes only.

This post has been modified to reflect the information.

• America’s First Wavegarden Set to Open in Austin, Texas This Spring [The Inertia]

• The State of Texas: March 24, 2016 [TexasMonthly.com]

• Austin, Texas Just Became a World-Class Surfing Destination [The Inertia]