As the West faces perilous wildfires and droughts, luxury desert golf communities curiously continue to thrive.
While California residents are asked to let their lawns go brown and swap grass for drought-tolerant landscaping, the Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta reopened in December 2024 after a multi-million-dollar refresh. The restored 229-acre golf course underwent extensive re-grassing and irrigation upgrades, even though a single golf course can use up to a million gallons of water daily.
Set in Coachella Valley, a golf mecca with over 100 courses, the region receives just three inches of rainfall annually. Amid historic droughts, the lush green fairways can feel like a threat. So why do they exist at all?
The desert golf boom traces back to 1927 when oil tycoon Thomas O’Donnell opened a private course in Palm Springs. It later opened to the public as The O’Donnell Golf Club, setting a precedent. As California elites flocked to the region over the following decades, golf became a luxury status symbol and cornerstone of resort-style retirement.
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Developers capitalized on this vision. “Golf courses were designed so you could have homes along either side of the fairway, which is how developers made money,” says Dr. Robert Glennon, Professor Emeritus of Law and Public Policy, University of Arizona, and author of Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What to Do About It.
The model eventually spread to other desert states like Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico—luring wealthy snowbirds seeking warm winters and pristine fairways.
The Water Issue
A million gallons of water daily is roughly what one desert golf course can consume. That’s the daily water use of about 3,000 households. Also, desert golf courses often play by different rules. In Nevada, they were exempt from the state’s 2021 law banning nonfunctional grass. Others may benefit from subsidized water rates or are grandfathered into decades-old water rights agreements that allow continued access to groundwater or Colorado River allocations.
“You can’t get around the fact that that million gallons a day doesn’t come back. It’s used and evaporated.”
Local water agencies argue the situation is less dire in places like Coachella Valley. The region sits atop a vast aquifer with significant water reserves, and over half of the area’s courses now use non-potable water. Some desert golf advocates argue their courses are more drought-resilient than their East Coast counterparts. Still, as water tables drop, the environmental cost becomes harder to ignore.
“Palm Springs is pretty notorious,” says Glennon. “Less than half of them use treated municipal effluent—the rest use virgin groundwater. The groundwater tables are dropping, and there are problems of subsidence where the land surface is sinking.”
In recent years, a few cities have responded. Scottsdale worked with resorts to fund a desalination-style plant that treats wastewater for irrigation. Tucson has transitioned most courses to reclaimed municipal water.
“Most of the newer courses in Arizona have adapted,” says Glennon. “You’ll see desert landscaping for the first 100 yards off the tee, then it transitions into the fairway. It’s a big water savings.” But he adds, “You can’t get around the fact that that million gallons a day doesn’t come back. It’s used and evaporated.”
Desert Golf Is Here to Stay
Despite the pressure, desert golf isn’t going anywhere.
“I don’t think banning golf courses is in the cards at all,” says Sarah Porter, Director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy. In Palm Springs alone, golf tourism generates $1 billion annually. Entire communities, tax bases, and homeowner associations are built around these courses.
“That tourism economy is really important to Scottsdale,” Porter adds. “Golf courses paid to develop the infrastructure—essentially a desalination plant—to treat effluent and deliver it to courses. It shows the relationship between the city and the industry.”
Still, change is underway. In 2023, the Colorado Basin Golf and Water Summit brought together stakeholders to confront climate realities, water cuts, looming regulatory changes, and a shrinking Colorado River. In 2024, the Las Vegas Valley Water District enacted rules drastically reducing how much water golf courses can use, building on an earlier ban on new golf courses drawing water from the Colorado River.
The future of desert water use is in flux. And while golf has long symbolized luxury, prioritizing balance and sustainability is more imperative than ever. The next generation of desert golf courses will need to creatively adapt to thrive and survive.
