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Nathaniel A. Thompson Beth Krueger BIO 109 19 October 2013 False Oases Water is simple, plain, and in danger. The water we take for granted right now is disappearing. This is a very real threat, while its true you cant destroy water, you can misuse it. I remember when I was a child, before we would go on any trip, we would fill a few one gallon water bottles and throw them in the trunk. This was in the event that we broke down on our way to town. Which when I was a kid, traveling from Mammoth a small mining town on highway 77, that was about fifty miles from anywhere both ways. I learned the value of water when I was young. When I saw golf courses I couldnt understand why they wasted water with their huge hills of green, lakes shimmering, creating false oases. Thats what made me want to get to the bottom of this and what I found was shocking. When I sat down to write this I planned to come at this swinging. I wanted to show the faults of golf courses water usage and to reveal them as the monster I thought they were! But it appears I have been ignorant to the reality that they have been trying to correct their past errors. I started reading article after article and I started to come to the conclusion, a change is happening yes, but is it too late? In the past thirty years people have been coming to the realization that our supplies of water, especially here in the desert, is finite. According to Meyland the number is lower than you might think:

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Although 70% the Earth's surface is covered by water, freshwater makes up only 3% of the total water on the planet. Most freshwater is stored as ice in glaciers and polar ice sheets. Although humans rely heavily on freshwater from streams, rivers and lakes, this water amounts to only 0.02% of all water on Earth. By far, most liquid freshwater is stored in aquifers as groundwater. Even so, groundwater makes up only 1% of all water on the planet. (Meyland) With this in mind one would think it be easy to want to take care of our lifeblood. Although some progress is being made on some of the biggest golf courses in our country half of the 9,100 courses in the nation are now using environmentally friendly landscaping ideas. (Ginsburg) this was back in 2001 and the path they are taking is starting to catch on. Golf courses are now switching to more native options and they are, re-establishing long-lost native plant communities in and around courses, or leaving existing communities intact (Ginsburg). Golf courses save both water and money, the latter of which is an attractive offer to any business. Here in Arizona the trials of water usage is of top concern, so some locals are using technology to help with the water issues, while reducing the cost. To reduce the cost of maintaining award-winning greens and fairways, Desert Mountain-a collection of six championship golf courses in the high Sonoran Desert north of Scottsdale, AZ--decided to install a wireless sensor network to take the guesswork out of turf management. With the aid of RF-enabled sensors, the club's director of agronomy, Shawn Emerson, has been able to reduce irrigation costs by 15%-20% and upgrade maintenance practices. (Kevan)

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Taking steps like this can help us get on the track to better water usage control. With the appeal of saving money businesses will be willing to adopt these technologies. We cannot expect these places to stop water usage but in turn can expect them to improve their current facilities. Now we know that fresh water is not used for golf courses a lot of it is reclaimed water. Much of the raw waste water is recycled, purified and then sold for re-use in multiple applications including agricultural irrigation, watering of municipal golf courses and street meridians, parks and school grounds, according to Betty Gibbel, EMWD public affairs officer. Some recycled water is allotted also to San Jacinto Wildlife Areas and local duck clubs. (Faulkner) This way water thats unusable is turned into functioning water. The process removes the waste which is used for fertilizer. This process is essential, using waste water to water the landscapes is not a new concept, and it has been being practiced for years. Despite these attempts and efforts of some, water levels are still dropping leading to the destruction of necessary habitats Excessive pumping can make rivers dry up, and destroy the ecosystems they supported. (Brooks). On a darker note the same water is pumped up from the ground and used in the same river they dried up from pumping a river left dry due to groundwater pumping was such a tourist attraction that some of the very water that is pumped up is used to recreate the river in areas that tourists visit. (Brooks). Excessive water usage leads to more damage than just dried river beds but to sinkholes and sinking land When groundwater is withdrawn from aquifers at a faster rate than it is replenished, the soil compacts and the land subsides. The problem is common in California, where some heavily depleted areas have sunk 30 feet, and is also common in Arizona and Texas. (Thilmany). In the light of these affects you

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would believe we wise up to the damage we are causing our own planet, but sadly we dont wish accept the problem. Water is not infinite, aquifers are not bottomless, they were filled millions of years ago and it will take even longer for that to ever happen again. It is true we cant destroy matter but when water evaporates, its gone, scattered to the winds. Golf courses are making strides in better water usage this but a beginning. More work must be put forward on all aspects of water use if we ever hope to slow down the damage we have done. We can never in our life times, or childrens lifetimes ever hope to reverse the damage weve done. While the option of not at least trying this issue will get only worse. The biggest challenge is finding a balance between man and the natural world, while this is no easy thing to accomplish, we have to try to find that harmony. What price shall we pay for these false oases?

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Works Cited Brooks, David B. "Mismanaging Water. (Reviews)." Alternatives Journal 29.2 (2003): 48. Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. Faulkner, Loren. "Expansion at Inland Water Reclamation Plant." California Builder and Engineer 18 Aug. 2008: 10. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. Ginsburg, Elisabeth. "Greener golf courses, ecologically, that is." New York Times 25 Nov. 2001: S1. Academic OneFile. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. Kevan, Tom. "Irrigation smarts tee up savings: wireless technology moves sensors to the greens and fairways of leading golf courses, and enables substantial cost savings." Sensors Magazine Nov. 2006: S4+. Academic OneFile. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. Meyland, Sarah J. "Rethinking groundwater supplies in light of climate change: how can groundwater be sustainably managed while preparing for water shortages, increased demand, and resource depletion?" Forum on Public Policy: A Journal of the Oxford Round Table (2008). Academic OneFile. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. Thilmany, Jean. "SINKING LAND STUDIED TO DETER FURTHER LOSS." Mechanical Engineering-CIME Mar. 2001: 18. Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.