Golf (dis)courses: A political ecology analysis of water usage in an arid area

Abstract

In arid regions of the American Southwest, managing water scarcity has become one of the most pressing environmental and political challenges of our time. This paper investigates the political ecological dimensions of golf course water use in St George, Utah — an arid and rapidly growing city located in the Colorado River Basin. Through a political ecology framework, we examine how tourism-driven development, particularly exclusive recreational landscapes like golf courses, shape water governance in ways that privilege consumption over conservation. Drawing on spatial analysis of 12 golf courses, city water use records, and policy documents, we show that St George golf courses consume far more water than both local residential use and regional averages. These findings highlight golf's significant local-scale water demand, exacerbating resource strain on both residents and downstream Lake Mead. We then problematize the framing of water crises which fail to identify issues of resource distribution, while understanding that climate change exacerbates existing inequalities. While issues of tourism-driven gentrification and water conflict are familiar to political ecology, we find that tensions of uneven development are also found in niche sectors of recreational tourism such as golf. The golf industry overemphasizes economic contributions and downplays water consumption as a strategy of continued extraction, while social exclusion is incentivized within private golf clubs. We discuss how the construction of golf courses in arid regions acts as a status symbol for modernity and wealth, although water resources continue to decline. Our findings contribute to political ecology scholarship by demonstrating how golf tourism functions as an extractive industry in an arid region, reinforcing existing power structures and resource inequalities. Ultimately, we argue that addressing the Colorado River Basin water crisis requires not only large-scale policy shifts but also a rethinking of local industries which rely on excessive water consumption.