Copyright Salt Lake Tribune
Hurricane • If the Beach Boys had traded palm trees for sagebrush, they could have ditched “Kokomo” for a song about Southern Shores — a new luxury surf community that’s bringing waves, wakeboards and waterskiing to the desert just east of St. George. Sure, Southern Shores is a half an ocean or more from the nation’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts. There’s no “bushy, bushy blond hairdos” or “Huarache sandals” in sight that the band hyped in “Surfin’ USA,” their 1963 paean to summer fun. But lest anyone think a $25 million water sports community on 80 acres in drought-prone southern Utah is a concept that doesn’t hold water, Immaculate Homes President Jason Christensen assures would-be naysayers that it does — and then some. Southern Shores boasts three separate lakes. The main boat lake is 500 feet wide and 2,400 feet long — enough room for waterskiing and wakeboarding. A second 100-by-700-foot lake is reserved for surfing, swimming and paddleboarding, and the third stunt lake, identical in size to its surfing counterpart, has cables that tow wakeboarders over rails, ramps and other obstacles. “Southern Shores is about entertainment and a sense of community,” Christensen said about the development he and his wife, Brittany, and Cody Larkin have created. “It is about living and recreating on the water and having fun with friends and family.” Southern Shores may be a first in southern Utah, but it won’t be the area’s only luxury water community. Zion Shores, which will feature luxury housing and artificial surfing waves, is under construction on 30 acres in Washington City and is expected to open in 2027. Recreation versus conservation For Ed Andrechak, president of Conserve Southwest Utah, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the area’s natural and cultural resources, the question is not if resorts like Southern Shores can hold water, but whether they should. “In our desert environment, with temperatures increasing and precipitation at an all-time low, open–water lakes should only be reservoirs that store this precious resource, which can also be used for recreation,” he said. “These water-themed developments … use four to five times the daily usage of the average person in Washington County. “Unoccupied second homes still use 93% of the amount of water as occupied homes. Using water at such excessive rates is inequitable and unsustainable in our desert region,” Andrechak added. Southwest Utah’s latest water year was one of the area’s worst, and all of Washington County is currently stuck in severe or extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Christensen knows that building water resorts in the desert during such dry times is not a good look, but said he and his partners secured approvals from the state water engineer and Hurricane city officials before construction began in 2020 and are doing everything they can to conserve. All the water for the lakes was acquired from private sources, he added. The only water Washington County Water Conservancy District is supplying is for the 56 custom homes that have been constructed or will be when the community is built out in the next several years. All the homes are landscaped with artificial grass and come with drip irrigation. The lakebeds themselves are also lined with a synthetic membrane and other materials to prevent water loss due to leakage or water seeping through soil. “Even on a really bad day, we only lose about three-eighths of an inch due to evaporation,” said Christensen, who estimates the total yearly amount of water that must be replaced due to evaporation is 135 acre-feet, about 44 million gallons. An acre-foot is nearly 326,000 gallons, enough water to cover an acre of land with one foot of water, and roughly the amount of water used by two single-family homes in an average year. While crediting Southern Shores officials for their conservation measures, Conserve Southwest officials say such resorts still use too much water, even if they own or buy the water rights from private sources rather than the water district. “Water is one of the most precious resources we have,” said Karen Goodfellow, Conserve Southwest Utah’s vice president and water team manager. “We are all part of the Virgin River Watershed, and we all share one water, no matter where your water rights are. Our water supply is fragile and very limited.” Living large on the lake Southern Shores’ posh lifestyle comes at a price. Christensen’s 34 lakeside lots vary in size from just under half an acre to eight-tenths of an acre, and can cost over $2 million. The offshore lots near the surfing and cable lakes cost between $600,000 to over $1 million. And the contemporary beach-style homes, many sporting infinity pools, range in size from 6,000 to 12,000 square feet and can set buyers back $8 million or more. The homes along the lake also have $400,000 two-story boathouses, each one topped with an observation deck and featuring a main floor where owners use hydraulics to lower or lift their boats on or off the lake. When homeowners are not soaking in their pools or skiing out on the lake, they can fish for largemouth bass or bluegill or surf on the Southern Shores’ $1.5 million surf pool, which creates a standing wave that can be raised or lowered to accommodate surfers of all abilities. “The surf wave, by far, is our number one attraction because it is so fun, everyone is cheering for one another and there’s more of a party atmosphere,” Christensen said. “We’ve had professional surfers come out to ride it.” Locals and professional water-skiers and wakeboarders on the main lake enjoy tackling the ski course, which consists of six buoys that are raised to the surface via an air system. As with any surfing hangout, the lake has some wipeouts. “I was skiing the course last year, made a mistake … and ended up tearing my Achilles,” Christensen said. Exclusive haven Still, as gated and walled as Southern Shores is, residents say their tight-knit community is more inclusive than exclusive. Residents, Christensen attests, have frequent get-togethers, host weddings and often invite first responders to train on the lake and experience the place’s ambiance and adventure. A member of Utah’s predominant faith, Christensen has hosted several hundred people from his congregation at his home to surf, ski and frolic in the water. Zach Cutler, a Latter-day Saint bishop of a young single adult ward in Washington Fields, has thrown a party for 100 youth at his home to surf and barbecue hot dogs and hamburgers. “It’s so fun to share Southern Shores with others, get them on the water and give them a great experience,” Cutler said. Even uninvited guests drop in on occasion. Residents say pilots in motorized hang gliders occasionally buzz by, dipping their toes in the water as they glide across the lake. A rare Osprey drops in on occasion and perches on a boathouse, looking to get the scoop on unsuspecting fish. Cutler and his wife, Jennifer, ditched their houseboat and sold a condo on the Hawaiian island of Maui to buy their home at Southern Shores. Along with the ecosystem, he enjoys the quietness of lakeside living, along with taking in stellar sunrises, sunsets and stars. A favorite memory is the daddy-daughter date he enjoyed with 18-year-old Addi, just the two of them, teaching her how to waterski on the lake one evening. “It was one of those magic nights as a dad where you are outside and watching your girl learn to do something new and watching her confidence grow.”
