PGA Golf Courses Exempt from Drought Rules
During a drought, we all share the burden equally, right? Wrong. While the rest of are being told to cut back on water use, PGA will be able to use as much water on its golf courses as it thinks is necessary.
The language in the Development Agreement
(April 1, 2002) is toothless.
The following is from Section 5.06 of the Development
Agreement between the City of San Antonio and the PGA developer:
"The operation of the golf courses
shall be deemed in compliance with Stages I, II and III of the Critical
Period Management Rules so long as the operation of the golf courses
shall be in compliance with the Conservation Requirements set forth in
the Water Provision Agreement and this Development Agreement."
The Conservation Requirements in the Water Provision Agreement (March 22, 2002) are:
"2.06 Conservation Requirements.
Developer agrees to comply with the water conservation measures set forth in the
Development Agreement, the Golf Course Management Plan (as defined in the
Development Agreement), and this Agreement, including the following:
(i) Irrigation of the golf courses shall be limited to no more than an average of ninety (90) acres of land per golf course;
(ii) Best management practices shall be utilized for all golf course irrigation;
(iii) An on-site weather station and computer-controlled irrigation systems which automatically control irrigation based on actual weather conditions shall be used for all irrigation;
(iv) Developer shall ensure that the golf courses and golf learning center will only use the amount of irrigation water actually needed, a management practice known as weather dependent irrigation. (Water needs will be determined by scientific-based calculations which include soil moisture, plant intake, evaporation, temperature and other weather conditions which is commonly known as evapotranspiration); and
(v) Developer shall convey EAA permitted water rights to the System in a quantity not less than twice the quantity of irrigation water sought for the golf courses and golf learning center, as set forth in the Service Requests in accordance with Article II of this Agreement.
Developer shall comply with the water conservation practices required in the
Development Agreement, the Golf Course Management Plan(*)
To see the rules the rest of us have to follow, go here: http://www.saws.org/conservation/aquifermgmt/
(*) The 'water conservation practices' required by the Golf Course Management Plan (CIBOLO CANYON GOLF COURSE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN Draft, April 1, 2002) are:
9.7 Water
Conservation
The Irrigation
Plan shall provide for the efficient management and conservation of
water supplies to prevent unnecessary depletion of local water
resources. As noted above, the plan shall include specific irrigation
schedules based on replacing ET loss.
Water conservation
shall also be achieved by minimizing the amount of acreage to be
irrigated for golf course purposes. Specifically, not more than an
average of 90 acres of each Golf Course envelope shall be irrigated.
The Irrigation
Plan shall also establish an overall water conservation strategy. Water
·
Establish lower boundary for deficit
irrigation strategy (e.g. reduce percentage of ET replacement).
The Irrigation Plan shall be provide for field trials conducted by WQ
Management Zone or by soil mapping unit to establish lower limits of
deficit irrigation.
·
Establish priority turfgrass areas
requiring irrigation. Greens and tees have the
highest priority followed by fairways, roughs, ornamental plantings, and
unmanaged/natural areas. Irrigation priorities should be established
prior to emergency conditions.
·
Reduce total area irrigated and total
volume applied to irrigated areas during water
shortage conditions.
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