Golf course says water runoff can be cut

Jeffrey Libby

Friday, Nov. 15, 2002 | 11:23 a.m.

The director of a golf course for high-rollers located in the mountains of non-gambling Boulder City says water runoff from the course greening a two-mile stretch of desert can be reduced, if not eliminated, within six months.

As part of an application for a six-month temporary discharge permit, Dave Johnson, director of Cascata Golf Course, owned by Park Place Entertainment, on Nov. 7 told state environmental officials that the runoff appears to stem from leaks in a system of rivers and lakes topped by an artificial 400-foot water fall.

"Water samples ... demonstrate that the shallow groundwater being discharged has a chemical signature similar to the groundwater sampled up-gradient of Cascata," Johnson wrote, "and is a result of leaks from the Cascata water features, not a result of excessive irrigation."

Darrell Rasner, supervisor of the state Bureau of Water Pollution Control, confirmed that the state received the application before today's deadline.

In a letter Thursday, Rasner told Park Place that the state Division of Environmental Protection will require monthly written progress reports from Park Place until the waste of water stops.

"They have bent over backwards to comply," Rasner said. "The whole group flew up here (to Carson City) to assure us they would bring the golf course into compliance on this issue."

Because the application is for a temporary, not a permanent, discharge, there will be no public noticing of the permit, said Rob Saunders, a staff engineer for the water pollution control bureau.

The bureau will direct a state-certified lab to review water samples provided by Park Place before issuing a permit, Saunders said. The bureau will also review Park Place's plan of action, he said.

"This seems to be mostly an issue of water loss, not really water pollution," Saunders said.

A permit could be issued in about a month, he said.

Any potentially hazardous metals that leach into groundwater as it travels through a ledge below the golf course will most likely be naturally occurring, Saunders said. The metals should not pose a health hazard if they are allowed to percolate back into the ground after resurfacing in the desert southeast of the U.S. 93/95 interchange, he said.

According to Park Place officials, water quality tests of samples taken in October 2001 and August 2002 found elevated levels of salts, but registered a "non-detect" for such hazardous metals as mercury, arsenic and lead.

The tests also showed no chemical traces of fertilizers, Park Place spokesman Robert Stewart said, suggesting that little if any of the runoff originates from fairways.

Instead, Park Place blames "inherited construction defects" in a system of lakes and rivers that apparently went undetected in December 1998 when Park Place purchased the golf course from MGM Grand for $62 million.

Crews have repaired about 40 percent of the leaks, Johnson said, and continue to identify more.

Park Place has declined to say how much water is leaking from the course, but according to city records, Cascata is on pace to use 417 million gallons of potable water, a 23 percent increase from 360 million gallons used last year.

The waste of water came to the state's attention after residents complained that runoff from the course was greening a two-mile stretch of desert. A small section of the vibrant plume includes vegetation normally associated with wetlands, such as salt cedar, cattail and other tall grasses.