Poway's Biggest Water Hogs

 Maderas Golf Course, Poway

What a refreshing sight.  Cool, lush, green grass that seems to stretch on forever and ever. Blue, sparkling water.  A forested hillside. Wait a minute....blue, sparkling water? Where did that lake come from? 

That lake happens to be part of Maderas Golf Course in Poway.  There are a total of  3 lakes at Maderas. And 5 waterfalls. And a 25 station driving range and oversize practice putting green. 

Have you ever wondered how much water  it takes to keep Poway's two golf courses (Stoneridge and Maderas) looking so lush? Well, until recently, I haven't, but now that we are in a "Level 2" water shortage,  and have to deal with a restricted watering schedule, I am beginning to wonder about just how much water the golf courses use.  

Stoneridge and Maderas buy 2 types of water from the city- untreated raw water and treated potable water. The raw water is delivered to the golf courses via a special just-for-them metered pipe that connects to the pipe that brings raw water to Poway.  Potable water is delivered to the golf courses via the regular city pipe system. The chart below shows how much raw and potable water the golf courses bought in  fiscal year (FY) 2007-2008.

Raw and Treated (Potable) Water Sold in Poway FY 20007-2008

Stonerige Raw                    426.06 AF

Stoneridge Potable                 5.27 AF

Maderas Raw                      206.44 AF

Maderas Potable                   12.49 AF

TOTAL     GC                       650.25 AF

Other Potable Water 

Sold in Poway                  13,383.71 AF

The total amount of water used by both golf courses in FY 2007-08 was 650.25 AF.  Just how much water is an acre foot?

An acre-foot is a common unit to measure volumes of water, typically for use in irrigation. One acre-foot is the volume of water sufficient to cover an acre of land to a depth of 1 foot (43,560 cubic feet, approximately 325,851 U.S. gallons, or approximately 1,233.48 cubic meters). On average, 1 acre-foot of water is enough to meet the demands of 4 people for a year. 

Stoneridge and Maderas Golf Courses used 650 acre feet

(= 211,884,613 gallons) during FY 2007-08, enough (on average) to meet the demands of 2600 people.  2600 people is a little more than 5% of all the people living in Poway. 

"But, but , but", you say, "the people of Poway are anything but average."

True.

And, to boot, the water data above is incomplete. Maderas actually uses about half raw/potable water and half well water. (I will explain why in a future blog) And  raw and potable water are not the total kinds of water Poway sells. They also sell reclaimed water for irrigation to users in the industrial park. 

But about 4.6% of all the water that Poway received via San Diego County Water Authority (SDWCA) and sold to Poway customers in 2007-2008 went to the golf courses. It is the water supply from SDWCA that will be cut back by 8% this year.

Stoneridge Golf Course was built in 1962, way before Poway incorporated. Maderas, on the other hand, is just celebrating their 10th year anniversary this year. We had just been through a couple of droughts when the council approved the Maderas Golf Course. It isn't as if we didn't know another one was coming. So why did the council approve of such a water-intense land use that has only limited public benefit? 

Poway will impose new rules regarding irrigation starting July 1st. Residential customers can only water on specific days of the week and for limited length of time. Even-numbered addresses are assigned Sat., Mon. and Wed; odd-numbered addresses get Sun., Tue., and Thurs. Condos, apartments and businesses get Mon., Wed., and Fri. Irrigation is limited to 10 min. per station. Violators are subject to unspecified penalties.

Golf courses can water whenever they damn well please.  And for as long as they desire. They are expected to reduce their total consumption by 8% from the amount they used from July 2006 to Jun 2007 (FY 2006-2007.) If they do not reduce, then penalties will be assessed "equivalent to the severe penalty rate charged by SDCWA."  Or so it says in the June 2, 2009 staff report. Unclear is whether the golf courses must meet their 8% reduction month-by-month or only as a yearly total. And if Poway reduces overall consumption by 8% but the golf courses exceed their allotment, will they still be subject to increased rates that could be, would be charged by SDCWA if Poway had not reduced consumption by 8% or are the golf courses off the hook in that case? 

What Goes Around Comes Around

In 1976, our little family (me, husband Larry, 4 1/2 yr old son and infant daughter) moved to Poway. At the time Poway was still kind of a "cowpoke"place. There were  horses and cows grazing next to Poway Rd., few shopping places (except fast food), no playgrounds, maybe 2 grocery stores and about 3 traffic lights.  It would be several years before anyone put "renown" and PUSD in the same sentence.  We moved to Poway because we found a house we could afford. 

On weekends we trekked back to San Diego to visit our favorite places: the zoo, Balboa Park, La Jolla cove, Presidio Park and Mission Bay. I've always been grateful for these wonderful places and the efforts of community minded citizens who made sure they happened.  

Although Poway was not jam packed with amenities, we found there was no shortage of concerned citizens who got involved and tried to make their community a better place. Our mailman, Kent Miller, told us all about the Poway Soccer Club. We signed up our 5 yr old. 

At our son's school, a group of parents had formed a day care for parents who wanted to volunteer in their child's classroom and had younger children that needed care. They fixed up a room and found some way to hire someone to care for the younger siblings. 

Poway had lots of groups. There used to be a bunch of wooden signs down by the entrance to town with the names of the groups on them.  Groups like the Kiwanis, Lions Club. One of those groups was responsible for the annual Easter Egg hunts our kids went to. They were at Poway Lake and the kids really had to look for the eggs hidden in the scrub. My sister-in-law was in the Jr Woman's Club and she recruited me for the annual youth day at Poway Lake. I was in charge of face painting.

As we got to know our town better, we found it did have some amenities. There was lots of open space to explore.  There was a creek. There was a library.  And although it was in a shopping center, it had special children's programs and a caring staff that got to know us well.  I still remember taking a call for my napping 2 yr old daughter from the librarian telling her that the book she requested, "Molly Mullet" was in. And how thankful I was when they called and told us that she had left behind her precious strawberry blanket one day. 

The Poway spirit was contagious.  We coached soccer for the next 13 yrs.  I volunteered in my son and daughter's classrooms. We joined (and formed) some political groups. We walked our neighborhood asking people to vote for incorporation. My husband was a member of the library committee for 8 yrs. Our kids grew up, went off to college and moved on with their own lives. But we still kept an active interest in making the community a better place, just as people had done before us.

Our neighborhood park, Starridge Park,  has always been of special importance to us. Over the years, we have had a hand in making sure the park stayed a neighborhood park and did not turn in to a sports facility. And so, even though our kids were grown, we attended the meeting when the city decided to replace the playground equipment.  And when the swings were removed and Bob Thomas said that they were not safe, we helped get a petition signed to bring back swings to Starridge Park. And we succeeded. A couple of years ago, I noticed that there was no shade by the swings, so I lobbied the council for some trees. Larry and I don't really use the park much. But we are always thrilled to see the park get used for birthday parties, family picnics, and neighborhood pick-up games. 

Yesterday, we visited Starridge Park with our granddaughter.  She tried out the baby swings. She gave them 2 thumbs up, or maybe it was 2 pajama bottomed feet up. She loved those swings.  What a sweet moment. When we were advocating for Starridge Park, we never thought about whether our efforts would  come around someday and bless us. But they did.  And we loved it.