New water usage rules passed for area golf courses

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2003 | 10:54 a.m.

The Clark County Commission, acting as the Las Vegas Valley Water District, passed new rules Tuesday governing water use by golf courses.

The rules slap surcharges of 100 percent to 700 percent over the "highest nonpotable rate" for water for courses that use more than 6.5 acre-feet of water per year on their greens, fairways and tees. An acre-foot is enough water to serve a family of four for a year.

Frank Schreck, the attorney representing the Southern Nevada Golf Course Owners Association, said the amount represents "a subsistence level," one that is below the level needed to keep the grass on the area's courses healthy.

The amount represents an increase over the level previously suggested by the water district and Southern Nevada Water Authority officials, who had proposed six acre-feet per year for the courses. Schreck and Water District General Manager Richard Wimmer said the two sides worked out a compromise on the issue last week.

As part of the deal, every golf course served by the water district must draw up a plan to identify possible water savings.

The Las Vegas Valley Water District provides residential and business consumers with water through most of unincorporated Clark County and the city of Las Vegas. The Southern Nevada Water Authority is the regional water wholesaler for municipal water suppliers throughout Clark County, including the cities of Henderson, North Las Vegas and Boulder City.

All of the county's water agencies are struggling to respond to a four-year drought described as the worst in the recorded history of the Colorado River, which through Lake Mead satisfies nearly all of the county's 1.8 million residents with water. Other water restrictions, part of a "drought alert" that also included as much as 40 percent higher rates for some heavy residential users, were imposed July 15.

Water officials say they must have conservation in place to give them some breathing room in the face of heavy use, the drought and continued residential and commercial growth. Within a decade, alternate sources of water will be pumped into Las Vegas, they say, but until then, conservation is the best way of stretching the valley's limited water supply to cover present and future needs.

The impact of the new rules on golf courses will be limited overall. About 60 percent of the water used in Clark County goes to residential uses, and most of that for outdoor irrigation. Golf courses, according to Wimmer, use about 8 percent of the water consumed in Las Vegas.

That means that the overall impact of the rules will likely be about 1 percent on the total water consumption from Lake Mead, which this year may be 300,000 acre-feet.

Wimmer said that although the total impact of the golf course provisions in the water-use rules is limited, it is necessary because everyone in the community -- homeowners, businesses and golf courses -- has to feel the pinch of the new rules.

The goal of the restrictions passed 6-0 on Tuesday is to conserve 10 percent of the golf industry's total consumption, Wimmer and Schreck agreed. The restrictions will be in place for one year.

Wimmer, responding to a question from Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates, said the water agencies will begin working with the golf courses immediately to see what steps can be taken to conserve even more water -- a scenario that is likely after the one-year golf course restrictions expire.

"I think we start working with them tomorrow," Wimmer said. "We want to have one full year with this budget to see how it behaves."

The level in Lake Mead, which has been steadily falling for years, is likely to trigger a "drought alert" Jan. 1 and a drought emergency -- for which rules have not been spelled out yet -- a year or less later. Wimmer said a citizens committee is working on the rules that would impact all users under those drought-response levels.

Schreck said it does not appear likely that the golf course industry can cut back significantly more without letting the grass die. The economic impact of a loss of golf courses could be huge, he warned the board.

He said visiting golfers and their families pumped $1.16 billion into the Southern Nevada economy last year, not including gambling, and provided direct and indirect payrolls of $115 million for almost 4,500 employees.

Schreck said golf courses are already spending tens of millions in efforts to cut back water use.

Stallion Mountain Country Club is spending $1 million to $4 million for turf removal; Black Mountain Golf and Country Club is spending $1 million; Red Rock Country Club is spending $2.5 million to $3 million; and other golf courses throughout the county are spending similar amounts, he said.

"All of these changes involve significant expenditures," Schreck said. He said many of those affected by the spending and the changes will be middle-income and retired members of the community.

"Unfortunately, the public perception is that golf courses are recreational havens for the most affluent members of the community," he said.