PGA Village
and the
Cibolo Canyon Conservation and Improvement District
Hwy 281 North at Evans Road
Analysis of Statistics in May 5, 2001 San Antonio
Express News attributed to Mr. John K. Pierret, executive vice president of
Lumbermens's Investment Corp. of Dallas. (outside firms take the money and leave -
leaving the rest of us dry)
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Mr. Pierret argued building
3 golf courses and a couple of large hotels would consume less water than placing single
family homes on the same land.
Please note that the entire argument over land use for homes versus a golf course
and the related water consumption is a farce. To save water by building a golf
course instead of homes would require that the people available to fill those homes be
denied water when they settle elsewhere. In fact they will simply be displaced from
this particular site to use water somewhere else in the area.
The only truth in the PGA Village argument is that pumping from
the Trinity Aquifer will be higher or lower depending on land use. I vote for no use
at all - purchase of the land by the City of San Antonio to preserve the water supply.
Perhaps the homes that are not built over this area would be built within the San
Antonio city limits and would obtain water from SAWS (Edwards Aquifer) - relieving
pressure on the sensitive Trinity Aquifer.
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Analysis of Numbers quoted in the Express-News article
 | The Audubon farce is covered on a separate web page. However,
according to Pierret, by adhering to standards set by this Audubon
International, irrigation will be restricted to less than 90 acres of the 600 acres set
aside for three golf courses. We are not told how many acres would normally be
irrigated without the "Audubon" standard. No evaluation is possible.
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| It is stated that the golf project would consume 220 million gallons per
year. Other golf courses existing and being proposed in the region are quoting
slightly more water usage for only 2 golf courses or over 340 million for 3 courses.
When putting in the grass for the first time the proposed Cibolo Cliffs golf
course (Hwy 1863 in Comal County) will require one million gallons per day and 500,000
gallons per day during summer months after the grass is established. The
average for a year is 312,000 gallons per day or 114 million per year for one golf course.
Nothing is said on how water use will be reduced by 1/3 over the normal requirement
for this area. Perhaps grass grows with less water in Dallas.
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| The numbers are moot because the argument in the article on water
consumption is invalid. However, one would think that the front man for a Dallas
investment firm would have his numbers straight.
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