water conservation

It’s no news that the Golden State is potentially facing its most serious drought ever. The topic has been a media staple since NASA released an alarming report revealing that California has one year of water left in its surface water reservoirs. With water resources already being stressed—increased population growth and a decrease in available… Read more »

With water resources already being stressed—increased population growth and a decrease in available surface water supplies are putting a squeeze on communities across the state—future trends will only compound existing conditions. As the most populous state, California is expected to reach 50 million people by 2050. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report from 2013, California will continue to experience reduced snow packs and warmer temperatures. These conditions will lead to increased evaporation and a reduction in available water for both urban areas and agriculture. Food security for Californians and the multitudes of other Americans who depend on its food and wine production, will be further challenged.

Of the total precipitation which falls in California, 50 percent is infiltrated into soils in rural areas or piped to the ocean in urban areas. The other 50 percent is appropriated for human use. Of the latter, 80 percent is channeled to agriculture and the rest is diverted for residential use. The hydrologic cycle in California needs to be understood and used as a formative system in urban planning and design to ensure resiliency for our communities and for the state’s economy.

First we need to maximize the capture and storage of the 50 percent that returns to the environment. In order to retain and improve rainfall for future years, we need to allow precipitation to infiltrate into soils for uptake by plants and release back to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration. We can capture 100 percent of rainfall events up to a 100-year-storm level at the neighborhood and city scale through high-performing open spaces, which include bioswales, rain gardens, and detention ponds. For 100-year+ events, the regional scale can be used to lay out a matrix of large, interconnected open spaces.

The next 50 percent has the big finger pointing at agriculture. Yet, by arranging our cities based on the water cycle we can reduce our use of potable water. Currently, recycled water is used to irrigate vast areas of ornamental landscapes that surround our urban environs. What if we reconfigure these decorative landscapes and turn them into productive members of society by creating a heterogonous patchwork of agricultural open spaces stitching together our communities—places where recycled water becomes the formative system. Graywater from residential areas can then be filtered to acceptable agricultural levels and used to either offset or replace surface water demands. Instead of fields of stagnant groundcovers and static trees, the landscape will come to life with shifts in seasons, workers, and harvests and people will become connected to their food, farmers, and water use. A local food network will be generated, with grocery stores, farmers markets, and restaurants all benefiting from the local supplies. Local food brings local jobs, and local spending compounds the multiplier effect.

Farm areas in close proximity to sources of recycled water are at a unique advantage over others especially in time of drought and in a future that is anticipated to be far more water-scarce. Agriculture is part of the identity and economy of California. A radical shift in everyone’s way of life is required. As the population in California continues to grow, so will the demand for water, food, and land. Our ability to offer ingenious solutions to these issues will be essential to sustaining the places we live.

Image courtesy of Michael McCullough via Flickr: http://tinyurl.com/mu9fo37

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Posted by Paul Peters
in Ecology, Urban Ecologies
on 1 May, 2015

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A day before our presentation to an important mayor, my Chinese client called me to say, “By the way, prepare a plan without that golf course drawn in; they are not allowed to be openly proposed.” I admit that I responded in full panic mode: “What am I supposed to say about that huge space now suddenly empty?” “Don’t worry,” he said. “The mayor will get it. Just remember to refer to it as a ‘sports park’ or ‘green park’.”

It’s not likely that a 70-hectare parcel of land packed with fairways can easily pass for a regular “park,” even to the most amateurish eyes. I was amused by this phenomenon: Banning golf courses on paper while building them everywhere under all kinds of funny names? What’s behind this love-hate relationship between the Chinese government and golf courses?

Back in the Mao Days, golf was regarded as a symbol of a “bourgeois” and “decadent” lifestyle, and building golf courses was simply out of the question. After China’s reform and opening-up, a Hong Kong business tycoon invested in the first golf course in Guangdong, the richest province in China at the time, and initiated China’s booming popularity with this novelty.

It soon came to the Chinese government’s attention that many golf courses are built at the expense of farmland and forests. Besides, with an annual average consumption of 400,000 tons of water and 156 tons of fertilizer and pesticide for an 18-hole course, environmental impact has become a concern. In 2004 the Central Government announced the “Notice of Suspension of New Golf Course Constructions,” a temporary ban while the government figured out better regulation measures. However, by contrast with the Central Government’s strategy, local authorities have been exhibiting a curiously ambiguous attitude—golf courses continue to be built under an unspoken agreement between local government and developers, as win-win instruments to enhance a city’s image, attract investment opportunities, and boost real estate values. And, needless to say, lots of the local government officials are golf lovers themselves. As an ironic result, during the ten years since the ban was announced, China has seen its fastest growth in golf course history, from 178 to 587.

In July 2014, the Central Government announced the “Notice on the Clean-Up and Rectification of Golf Courses,” under which many built golf courses will face their judgment day, and it remains unknown what the government’s attitude will be toward future courses.

To me, this is the most important question: Are golf courses the right thing to ban? The increasing number speaks for a huge demand from the market as well as the importance of golf courses for local economies; and their popularity will only continue to rise since golf was added to the Olympic programs. As for environmental impact, there are golf courses built on quarries and other deserted lands that have essentially enhanced those places both aesthetically and economically, so one can argue that the overall impact in these cases is positive.

Simply banning golf courses, or ignoring them, will only result in more being built secretly and run unsupervised. Effective protection of farmland, water conservation, and prevention of water pollution can only be achieved by recognizing golf courses as an undeniable demand, and through adopting legislative measures and establishing technical standards that ensure golf courses be located, planned, and built with full ecological awareness.

For now, when landscape architects and planners are frequently tasked with helping Chinese clients sneak in those “green parks,” we should fulfill our responsibility by fully evaluating their ecological impact, and provide the most responsible recommendations when integrating them within our designs.

A golf course built on traditional farmland and forest in Yunnan, China. Image: Google Earth

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One Response to “The Secret Life of the Chinese Golf Course”

los angeles landscape

Thank you so much for the wonderful information .This is really important for me .I am searching this kind of information from a long time and finally got it.
May 6th, 2015 Reply