I base these posts on Fandango’s Who Won the Week posts, and I use the opportunity just to look at my own newsfeeds.
If you haven’t already noticed, Europe is going through a heatwave. Only a few weeks ago, Portugal peaked at 47C/117F.
This has had the knock-on effects of causing drought conditions. Only a few days ago authorities declared a drought across much of the UK. It doesn’t matter much what they declare, as we should be prudent anyways, but it made for a good headline.
And it’s no better in France, whose rainfall is just 15% of the norm and where parts of the mighty River Loire have almost dried up. Hundreds of villages are facing shortages even of drinking water. Residents across France have been instructed not to use their hoses on their gardens, or to wash their cars. Everybody is tightening their belt.
Almost. There is a notable exemption to the ban on the frivolous use of water.
Golf courses are still permitted to water their greens.
The French Golf Federation attempted to defend the move, citing the 15,000 people employed to tend golf courses across the country. The population of France was, at the last count, 67,300,000.
But Extinction Rebellion activists near Toulouse labelled the sport as the “leisure industry of the most privileged”, and saw this move as proof that “economic madness takes precedence over ecological reason”.
Extinction Rebellion has supporters. The mayor, no less, of the city of Grenoble, Éric Piolle, chipped in. “We continue to protect the rich and powerful.”
And certainly in Toulouse, these words were accompanied by direct action. On several golf courses, activists cemented up the holes!
A gimic to highlight a very serious issue. But it caught the media’s attention and might just make people stop and think about how water is being used.
What are they doing near you? Are you parched? Do you have golf courses in your area? Are they watering them? Why do you think that’s still happening?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62532840
Mister Bump 
We have two golf courses near where I live and I understand that both are using at least 25% recycled water for their courses. Of course, that leaves 75% new water. 🙁
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It’s worth posing the question when many of us are living in drought conditions.
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No golf here. Never saw anyone play golf around here. And we have too much water anyways.
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As noted, we’re on the opposite side and in winter currently, but water restrictions are common here. Everyone lets their lawn die in summer. We water the fruit trees and not much else. The fish ponds are topped up from rainwater tanks. We’ve been doing it for so long it’s common practice. Most of the open spaces are watered with recycled water
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I live in the Coachella Valley – in the Southern California desert and the home of Palm Springs – which is one of the hottest and driest places on the planet. Though thousands of square feet of lawns have been removed in recent years, numerous golf courses remain. They’re a major economic draw for our valley, and though some are irrigated with recycled water, most still use tremendous amounts of groundwater. In addition, there are thousands of swimming pools, one of which is mine, which I feel guilty about.
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I live very close to a golf course. I know they use a % of recycled water, but I’m not sure how much is recycled. The lawns are not as green as usual. I agree that it is not fair that golf courses use water but homeowners are under strict restrictions.
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Reporting from San Diego, CA USA – My front lawn is dead, we aren’t allowed to water lawns or wash our cars, fine with me. I still have some flowers and plants that get recycled water. We have some green golf courses in southern California and from what I understand, they use some recycled water, but the statistics are vague, I’m sure it could be better conserved at that level.
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Fandango is up in San Fran, says the same. We should question why golf courses have special status.
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