Hey, Vegas Vic, Why is there a lake at Wigwam Parkway and Stephanie Street, in Henderson?

For years a company named Hanson Aggregates mined the Henderson land for what Vegas Vic believes must be Southern Nevada’s most plentiful resources — sand and gravel.

With all the digging, miners also turned up a rare resource in this region — water.

The site eventually played out. Hanson closed the mine in 1996, and the aquifer filled it with water.

“Normally you can dig and dig and dig and not hit a drop,” says Mason Luedtke, parks and facilities coordinator with Henderson, which now owns the land.

Henderson officials designated as park space 100 acres of the former mine north of Wigwam and west of Stephanie. The 40-acre, C-shaped lake and wetlands will be the centerpiece of Cornerstone Lake Community Park, which is tentatively scheduled for completion in 2010.

Questions for Vegas Vic should be sent to page8@lasvegassun.com.