Golf’s Future in a Thirsty World
If the golf industry’s top concern is attracting enough players to grow the game, finding enough water to grow the grass at the nation’s 16,000 courses runs a close second in terms of priority. As a new report from the National Golf Course Owners Association finds, the industry needs to act quickly to address the issue of water supply and conservation or it will be left vulnerable to the dictates of lawmakers, local municipalities and environmentalists.
“If, as many observers suggest, water is the oil of the new millennium, then golf faces a long and difficult struggle to protect its share,” according to the report, which was developed by the NGCOA after interviews with a number of water experts inside and outside the golf industry. The report goes on to say: “How the industry, historically splintered and new to large-scale campaigning, will fare in that climate is anything but clear. What is apparent . . . is a sense that for the game to do nothing is to risk everything.”
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Source: Cibergolf.com
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City of Folsom restricts water use
August 27, 2008 by admin
Filed under The Southwest
SACRAMENTO, CA-The city of Folsom today ordered mandatory water conservation in response to declining supplies behind Folsom Dam, the city’s only source of water.
Starting Sept. 5, homeowners and business will be allowed to irrigate landscaping only on alternate days, never on Mondays and never between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Also, restaurants may serve water only on request.
The Stage 2 drought restrictions are believed to be the most drastic adopted so far in the Sacramento metro area. The region usually enjoys ample supplies but has begun to feel the pinch of a second dry year like the rest of California.
Folsom City Manager Kerry Miller said the call for mandatory conservation is necessary because customers have not responded to a voluntary conservation order that has been in place for months. The city also recently learned that it will lose access to an extra pool of water in Folsom Lake that is sometimes available.
“We’re hoping the community will respond,” he said.
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Source: The Mercury News
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Amid Shortage, Residents Keeping Water Usage Low
August 25, 2008 by admin
Filed under The Southeast
SPARTANBURG COUNTY, SC-An Upstate water system is hoping for rain and now managers are calling on the public for help.The Sunday morning paper came with a reminder from Spartanburg Water System asking customers to conserve water usage.
Water resource managers said that people are complying with the voluntary water restrictions. “I don’t hardly ever water because I know they’re short on water,” resident Tom Periera said. “[We] gotta think of the reservoirs and the rest of the population, you know.”
The reservoirs that supply service for Spartanburg Water are lower than normal and the stream that flows into the reservoirs have reached historically low levels. Despite that, managers said water usage is actually down. “We’ve seen up to a 15 percent decrease in water usage compared to this time last year,” manager Ken Tuck said.
The water resources manager credits proactive measures, such as asking people to voluntarily limit watering to twice a week.
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Source: WYFF4.com
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Commission requires gas drillers to obtain approval for water use
August 25, 2008 by admin
Filed under The Northeast
CHENANGO COUNTY – The Susquehanna River Basin Commission announced last week that as of Oct. 15, natural gas companies will be required to obtain prior approval before using water for drilling purposes.
The Susquehanna River Basin covers territories in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The agency was set up to “enhance public welfare through comprehensive planning, water supply allocation, and management of the water resources of the Susquehanna River Basin,” according to its mission statement.
Prior to the announcement last week, SRBC regulations required prior approval of water withdrawn from the river basin area if it exceeded 100,000 gallons a day, or 25,000 gallons a day for consumptive use.
“This is the first time the executive director has ever imposed such a regulation on an entire class of projects,” said SRBC Director of Communications Susan Obleski. Executive Director Paul Swartz is authorized to add the additional provisions because of the possibility the gas drilling could have an “adverse, cumulative adverse or interstate effect” on water resources, Obleski explained.
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Source: The Evening Sun
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Rocky Mount, VA: Water Conservation is now MANDATORY!
August 25, 2008 by admin
Filed under The Southeast
ROCKY MOUNT, VA – The city of Rocky Mount institutes a mandatory water conservation Monday morning in an effort to slow water use in response to severe drought.
All water customers will receive a notice in the mail Tuesday to immediately begin mandatory conservation.
Town Manager James Ervin says, “Continued drought, little rainfall and steady water use all mean that our lack of water has become more critical, and so I call upon you as citizens and good neighbors to do everything you can to reduce water use in your household and at work.”
The August rain deficit dictates that mandatory conservation to go into effect until the Blackwater River returns to better flow.
The Blackwater River has reached lows worse than the 2002 drought.
Ervin says, “Our water levels on the Blackwater are lower than at any other point since the town water plant was constructed. This is an urgent need that requires the immediate and ongoing attention of all our residents, businesses and industries.”
Mandatory conservation requires the following:
-No watering of plants or lawns (with limited exceptions)
-No filling of swimming pools
-No operation of outdoor fountains
-No washing of buildings, walks or vehicles (vehicles may be washed at commercial car washes)
-No water service in restaurants unless requested by the customer
-Customers urged to take shorter showers and recycle bath water for watering plants
-Customers can call (540) 483-0907 to report water abuse (use of sprinklers and hoses for watering, washing cars, etc)
Source: WSLS 10
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Global warming threatens crucial water resources
August 22, 2008 by admin
Filed under World's Water
STOCKHOLM (AFP) — Climate change poses a serious threat to essential water resources in the Himalayan region putting the livelihoods of 1.3 billion people at risk, experts said Thursday.
The mountainous region, home to the world’s largest glaciers and permafrost area outside the polar regions, has seen rapid glacial melting and dramatic changes in rainfall, experts at the World Water Week conference in Stockholm said.
“Himalayan glaciers are retreating more rapidly than anywhere else in the world,” said Mats Eriksson, programme manager for water and hazard management at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.
Although high altitudes, remoteness and cooperation difficulties between countries in the region have made it difficult to conduct comprehensive studies, Eriksson said it was obvious “the region is very strongly affected by climate change.”
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Source: AFP
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Los Angeles doubles fines for wasting water
August 21, 2008 by admin
Filed under The Southwest
LOS ANGELES, CA-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed an ordinance Thursday that doubles fines for residents who repeatedly violate the city’s “drought buster” rules, including a reworked ban on watering lawns between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The measure bars restaurants from serving water to customers unless it is specifically requested. And the ordinance will quadruple fines for large customers of the Department of Water and Power, mainly businesses, that break the city’s water-waster law.
“L.A.’s future depends on our citizens to adopt an ethic of conservation,” Villaraigosa said.
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Source: Los Angeles Times
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L.A. will make water a terrible thing to waste
August 6, 2008 by Editor
Filed under The Southwest
LOS ANGELES– With vital and often-distant water sources shrinking, Los Angeles officials today will revive a controversial proposal to recycle wastewater as part of a plan to curb usage and move the city toward greater water independence. The aggressive, multiyear proposal could do much to catch the city up to other Southern California communities that have launched advanced recycling programs.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s effort could cost up to $2 billion and affect a wide range of daily activities. For example, residents would be urged to change their clothes washers, and new restrictions would be placed on how and when they could water lawns and clean cars.
Financial incentives and building code changes would be used to incorporate high-tech conservation equipment in homes and businesses. Builders would be pushed to install waterless urinals, weather-sensitive sprinkler systems and porous parking lot paving that allows rain to percolate into groundwater supplies.
Just to meet a 15% increase in demand by 2030, officials say 32 billion gallons a year will have to be saved or recaptured – enough to cover the San Fernando Valley with a foot of water.
Prohibitions during the 1990s drought – banning residents from washing driveways and sidewalks, letting sprinklers flood into gutters and watering grass in midday – would be enforced again, with additional restrictions. One part of the proposal would limit lawn watering to certain days of the week.
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Source: L.A. Times
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