To: Road Walker who wrote (130169 ) 3/16/2001 5:40:10 PM From: Jim McMannis Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 186894 RE:"Not when they use reclaimed water. When they run out of reclaimed, that's another story. If if came down to a choice, I would let my lawn die, and water my golf course. The grass at my golf club serves a purpose beyond cosmetics. And you can blame the folks that moved to Florida, or you can recognize that it just doesn't rain like it used to. Global warming? That doesn't fit with your conservative POV, does it? How about desalination plants, that doesn't fit with the environmentalists. There are bigger problems in Florida than counting ballots" --- Anytime you water, regardless of reclaimed, there is evaporation. The resulting water vapor is not necessarily returned to the ground water. Golf courses would love you to believe something else of course. It's all about money though. Golf courses have clout, good for the economy they say. Somewhere for the retirees to spend the SS checks made on the backs of the workers at McDonalds. From an enviromentalist point of view, golf courses are a mixed bag. If the useful purpose is to bring more people in the state then that hurts the environment. FL has droughts from time to time, nothing new. It's the population that is the increasing factor. Desalinization would likely change the ecology of Tampa Bay. Increase in salinity of estuarine water could well decrease the fish population. One thing I've learned over the years though is that money and development will eventually overpower the environment. Man will continue to foul the planet. Bumper to bumper traffic from mullet key to the bayway. Something has got to give. Jim