Conservationists Oppose Plan to Water Golf Course at Washington State U.

Amid all the issues that could stoke protest at a college, the campus golf course doesn’t usually rate high on the list. (How many campuses have golf courses, anyway?) Golf courses might be serene places, but they are typically anathema to environmentalists for the grass that demands regular applications of fertilizer, pesticides, and water—the last being a particular problem in dry areas.

Now conservationists in eastern Washington are focusing on that very issue with regard to a course owned by Washington State University, according to the Associated Press. They have asked a county judge to overturn a state decision that allows WSU to draw from a declining aquifer to water its 7,300-yard course. The article says the aquifer, which has been dropping more than a foot per year for the last 80 years, provides drinking water to Pullman, Wash., and Moscow, Idaho.

The university built the course to raise the profile of its golf teams and to provide a laboratory for students in turf-grass research. But some conservationists and their allies say the university should have focused on water-conservation programs and sustainability instead.