By Marine de Russe
Quijorna, Spain - Playing a round of golf in Spain with the country suffering its worst drought in 60 years may appear rather a luxury, but for some the shortage of water means settling for a green that's not so green.
With vast swathes of the country facing water shortages Spain's 300 or so golf ranges appear as unsustainable oases of what greenery there remains, particularly in the arid central belt around Madrid.
But one golf fan thinks he may have managed to come up with a solution with an "ecological" golf course with the aid of municipal authorities, the turf requiring an irrigated surface 10 times smaller than usual.
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The course at Quijorna has a yellowy hue and parts of it have cracked thanks to the sun beating down constantly on the semi-desert area of Villanueva de la Canada, 30km west of the capital.
"But we have a philosophy using the making responsible use of water," explains Paco Lopez, chairman of the club which currently uses 100 cubic metres of water a year, "or the equivalent of a household," as he told reporters.
"The landscape we see at any rate at the moment is not normal, we have entered a drought cycle," continues Lopez, a professor of physical education who paces the area clad in a straw hat as he mulls the forecasts of ecological organisations who predict a dry cycle to rival that of 1990 to 1995.
According to Greenpeace, an ordinary golf course soaks up around 700 000 cubic metres of water a year, enough normally to cater for the needs of 15 000 people.
"Of 28 Madrid courses only two water their courses with recycled water, which they are normally obliged to do," Julio Barea of Greenpeace told reporters.
The Hydrographic Confederation of the Tagus (CHT), an offshoot of the environment ministry, in June opened disciplinary procedures against 10 of the courses for "illegal use of water".
The course owners are alleged to have dug unauthorised underground pits or used purified water.
At Barcelona in the northeast the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) closed the El Prat de Terrassa course for a weekend for breaking regulations by using drinking water and residue waters.
Ecologists have joined together in denouncing what they dub "water waste" by golf clubs in what constitute some of the driest regions in the country, including Andalucia in the deep south, Murcia in the south east and Extremadura in the west. In Murcia, more than ten new courses are shortly set to come on stream.
With regard to Quijorna the environmentalists say the project appears "interesting," although the project has yet to reach completion.
Nine holes were opened up last year and nine others are under construction.
But above all, a "minimal" irrigation system is set to be put in place for the whole course within the next five years.
The tees will be irrigated, as will the greens and the areas just in front of them, these three areas being "where it has been shown that 80 percent of the game takes place," according to Lopez.
The drives will be left to change colour depending on the season.
As a result, instead of irrigating 60 hectares - the average surface of a course - or 30 hectares, which correspond to the average surface of the game itself - only three hectares will be watered.
"Just doing that much will increase the quality of the terrain by 80 percent," Lopez notes.
The quality will as such be rated "average superior," a category Lopez would like to see further developed and marketed.
"There is no reason why there should only be luxury golf courses," he concludes. - Sapa-AFP
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