Letter: Golf courses too thirsty in drought

Thursday, Nov. 4, 2004 | 9:28 a.m.

The drought is now entering its fifth year and water restrictions from the Southern Nevada Water Authority grow increasingly stringent. The Water Authority can preach water restriction all its wants, but as I drive around Las Vegas the sprinklers that water the green oasis of golf courses ceaselessly rotate. Does the Las Vegas Valley really need 47 golf courses?

Winter water restrictions limit the use of water sprinklers and drip irrigation by homeowners to one day a week. While our water usage is being severely curtailed, the water needed to maintain a golf course remains the same. According to the SNWA, a 100-acre golf course uses between 550 and 600 acre-feet of water in a year. There are approximately 326,000 gallons in an acre-foot. The fact that we live in an environment where water quickly evaporates also means that a huge portion of the water used on golf courses transpires immediately back into the atmosphere.

Granted, the restrictions that are being placed on us are necessary to sustain our water resources. I am a college student now, but as a former employee of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area I have firsthand knowledge of the effects of the drought. Why, though, do we allow 47 golf courses to guzzle our precious water away as our restrictions increase?

The recent sales of government land for private development almost assures that more golf courses will be built in the future, and that even more tourists will try to golf our drought away.

HOPE HERRON

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