SALT LAKE CITY — A new bill introduced ahead of the state legislative session would require golf courses to report how much water they use on fairways, greens and driving ranges.
That data would then be made public.
House Bill 188, sponsored by Rep. Doug Welton, R-Payson, would require all golf courses, whether public or private, to report how many gallons of water they use a year to the Utah Division of Water Resources. The information would then be posted on a publicly accessible website.
Golf courses have been criticized in the past for water use as Utah's drought drags on. Recently, St. George prohibited construction of any new golf courses unless developers can provide their own non-potable source of water. The Washington County Water Conservancy District called on golf courses to cut the size of their fairways to reduce water consumption.
It's one of a series of water conservation bills being pushed in the Utah State Legislature in response to the drought and declining Great Salt Lake.
This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake—and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.
