This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A "Water Conservation Notice" was placed on my door this morning. The Highland mayor and City Council necessarily mandate a reduction in lawn watering to only three days a week.

Utah has 118 golf courses. The average golf course uses about 312,000 gallons of water daily. This allows golfers to play on "the greens." Ironically, the word "green" also refers to the conservation of our natural resources — the most-important of which is likely water.

If all of our golf courses in Utah are watered three days each week, and only April through September, they would use more than 2.8 billion gallons each year. The golf course at the Alpine Country Club in Highland still waters lawns daily.

And Utah is the second-driest state in the United States! Forest and climate researchers at Utah State University warn that drought could make this summer especially busy with wildfires ("Drought, climate change, forest practices elevate Utah's wildfire risk," Tribune, June 5).

Sports writer Frank Deford said on NPR: "Whereas we lack oil, there are other forms of energy, but when we lack water we simply get thirstier. A golf course is a selfish creature." Fore!

Frank Cameron

Highland