in arizona this is water conservation

Metro Phoenix's East Valley region…March 30, 2008 - 5:47AM…Courses willing to spend big to save grass…Ari Cohn, Tribune… To keep the greens green and the golfers coming back to Scottsdale, about two dozen local golf courses are willing to put more than $22 million toward treating irrigation water to remove salt, which kills grass. The golf courses use a blend of treated wastewater and Colorado River water for irrigation. But over time, the wastewater’s increasing salinity — because of the proliferation of water softeners, which flush salt into the sewer system — has begun to take a toll on the links, said Tim Bray, the consultant representing the golf courses.
And brown grass means fewer golfers. “It will kill the grass if we don’t do anything,” Bray said. “The overall result could be that the golf courses could die, to put it bluntly.” Last year, the TPC Scottsdale had to resod portions of its Stadium Course, in part because the salt caused grass to deteriorate. The Stadium Course plays host each January to the FBR Open, which attracts the largest galleries in professional golf. On Tuesday, the City Council is slated to consider an agreement in which the golf courses would put up $22.5 million toward expanding the Scottsdale Water Campus, 8787 E. Hualapai Drive. The expansion’s total cost has been pegged at about $59 million. “The city will design and build a system that’s big enough for their needs plus the needs of the golf courses,” Bray said of the proposed agreement. “The golf courses will pay all the costs. There is no subsidy from the city.” The current treatment process for the irrigation water was instituted in the early 1990s at a cost to the golf courses of about $14 million. In total, the courses pay the city about $2.2 million annually to operate the system, but it does not remove the salt.
Marshall Brown, city water resources general manager, said the plant treats about 10 million gallons per day of wastewater. The plant expansion is needed because of the recent institution of additional stormwater regulations and an increasing amount of wastewater in the system attributed to residential and commercial growth. The city’s need, however, only amounts to an additional 12 million gallons per day, he said. An additional capacity of 5 million gallons per day has been factored in to the expansion to handle the demands of the golf courses, for a total of 27 million gallons per day when the project is complete, he said. “If (the council) were to choose not to participate with the golf courses it would be downsized to about 22 mgd,” Brown said. The project likely would be financed through a bond issue, with the golf courses reimbursing the city $13 million for their portion of the construction through annual usage fees, plus $8.5 million in finance costs, over 25 years, he said. The courses also would pay an estimated additional $1.1 million a year for the maintenance and operation of their portion of the system, he said. If the council approves the agreement, the next step would be to hire a consultant to design the expansion some time this year. Construction could completed by 2011. “We think it’s a fair solution to the problem,” Bray said.
Only with the stipulation that “we” – that’s you and me – have absolute control and oversight over all aspects of this transaction.

I own my proclivities that all such private water related activates should be paid for solely by the users of these amenities and NOT made part of any general tax funding.

Moreover in a desert environment I question the need for nearly 200 golf courses in “metro” Phoenix each consuming about ONE MILLION GALLONS PER DAY OF OUR WATER especially in the summer time. Might it be timely that “we” re-visited the golf course issue in our desert environment especially in light of our commitment to the economic path of unrestricted growth…?

Bottom line, if “we” want a seat at this table, we’ll have to fight for it as the desk is currently stacked against us. So what do you want to do…?