Golf Courses

Golf courses are subject to water budgets, with appropriate surcharges applied to any water used over the budgeted amounts. Surcharges are assessed on an annual basis and are in addition to the price paid for water. Courses that exceed their water budget have significant financial penalties assessed to the excess water use.

Golf courses are water budgeted based upon acre-feet of water (including potable, raw, reclaimed and recycled water) for each acre currently being irrigated. The irrigated acreage includes lakes and ponds existing within a golf course and lakes and ponds serving in total or in part, as a golf course irrigation reservoir. Once measured, the irrigated acreage shall remain fixed, thus creating incentive for golf courses to convert unneeded turf to other styles of water-efficient landscaping. If a golf course expands its course by increasing the number of playing holes, a new irrigated acreage will be determined.

Annual golf course water budgets:

• 6.5 acre-feet of water per acre during Drought Watch
• 6.3 acre-feet of water per acre during Drought Alert