Las Vegas City Wire

A municipal water board has barred new golf courses from using water out of the Colorado River for irrigating their greens, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

"Under the rules approved on Tuesday, new golf courses could use groundwater rights if they have them, but may not use Colorado River water delivered by the Las Vegas Valley Water District, spokesman Bronson Mack said," Twitter user Mike Huck tweeted Nov. 2.

The decision by the Las Vegas Valley Water District affects new courses in Las Vegas and Clark County.

The board made the change a few months after a water shortage was declared in Lake Mead, the source of about 90% of the water supply in southern Nevada, the newspaper reported.

New golf courses could still use groundwater rights for water if they own them but can't rely on Colorado River water from the Las Vegas Valley Water District, the Review-Journal said.

Similar regulations have already been adopted by Henderson and North Las Vegas..

The new regulation won't reduce current water consumption but will stop new golf courses from increasing the amount of water withdrawn from the river, the Review-Journal reported.

An average golf course in Southern Nevada uses about 236 million gallons of water every year, the story said.

Much of the water used on golf courses is lost to evaporation and not returned to Lake Mead, the water district said, according to the Review-Journal.

Golf courses account for about 6% of southern Nevada’s total water use, Mack said. Residents use about 60% of the area’s  water.

Most of the water used at golf courses is used for  irrigation or lost to evaporation and cannot be returned to Lake Mead, according to the water district, the Review-Journal said.