From the Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/25/mormons-lawns-utah-old-testament-godly-act-megadrought

"This Mormon version of Manifest Destiny is at the heart of why Utahns suck up so much municipal water as well as why the state is moving at a dangerously glacial pace to deal with the climate crisis.

It explains why Utah uses more municipal water than any state in the country, except for Idaho. And why the state has long supported a heavily subsidized water pricing system and zoning laws that encourage, if not flat-out demand, a yard full of well-tended grass.

When trying to explain the near-religious devotion to irrigated landscapes, Mormons often quote a verse from the Old Testament (Isaiah 35:1-2) that inspired their 19th century pioneer ancestors who settled in Utah: “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.”

how much Utah real estate is dedicated to golf courses?

Avid golfer that I am, even I wonder how here in North Disneyland, the municipality has put up signs IN THE STREETS telling us to conserve water (including a new message: "Only Water lawns and plants on Wednesdays in October!", but the two city-owned golf courses are still watering daily...

I figure less than 1% of the population use the two courses...


Just because I can, I'll relate that one of the possible origins of the game has it leaping from the minds of Scottish sheepherders, who, after a night of sheepish connubial bliss, would use their staffs to play a rudimentary 'hit the small bundle into a hole in as few strokes as possible' game.

They would simply use the land they were on, lay out a couple of holes and then 'golf' their way into legend.

Here's a look at a shepherd's staff: https://www.etsy.com/listing/871280423/shepherd-staff-60-oak-staff-handmade-in?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_a-bath_and_beauty-personal_care-canes_and_walking&utm_custom1=_k_CjwKCAjw-L-ZBhB4EiwA76YzOZSB-z5DJl1mmMwLjYM8S9SDrqLSWvNA7vVPE3uzvzPTGVzQAqJgWBoCzPAQAvD_BwE_k_&utm_content=go_12570711969_119070841826_507343034088_pla-354666321271_c__871280423_112363018&utm_custom2=12570711969&gclid=CjwKCAjw-L-ZBhB4EiwA76YzOZSB-z5DJl1mmMwLjYM8S9SDrqLSWvNA7vVPE3uzvzPTGVzQAqJgWBoCzPAQAvD_BwE

My point being that the "original" game did not require anything but a bit of imagination. There were no set courses...

How would that work today? It'd be easy, with the internet, so long as golf balls became soft and heavy.


Golfers and mormons: entitled sons of bitches...

Taking turns whacking balls with a walking stick sounds like a game for masochists.

Also, of course, it was in Scotland which receives a lot - A LOT - more rainfall than Utah, even when you get what Tony Hillerman called the "male rains" - possibly, I'm back-translating from French here, but I know it can sometimes rain violently in navajo country.

In Scotland and indeed in the Northwest of England, it can rain unceasingly for weeks on end...

I have a theory, as yet unproved, that weather and climate explain British imperialism.

If a person lives in a cold, dark place with bad food, the temptation to move to warmer climes with tasty food must be overwhelming. Hence China and India and Egypt, the last in an ultimately futile attempt to get Ethiopian cuisine.

Damn Italians. . .

Yup. My theory on why the Brit's tried take over the whole world: quest for good food.

And more tea

Please, no more tea; I already drink about 2 litres of tea every day... I couldn't drink more as most of the rest of my time is already spent dealing with its diuretic effects. It's the worst addiction I have maintained and there IS such a thing as overdosing ;-)

Must you really post this directly above my allusion to "trickle down economics?"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2022 05:39PM by Lot's Wife.

And after the empire collapsed, the UK adopted Plan B: let enough immigrants in to improve the domestic offerings and force the existing British restaurateurs to meet a higher standard. Plan B had the additional advantage of being more egalitarian since those who lived on that dreary rock in the North Sea were finally able to get a good vindaloo without having to join the foreign service.

I like to think of it as the culinary version of trickle-down economics.

I think that's the west in a nutshell. It will take people awhile to get used to the notion of desert-scaping.

They are also pushing new development/growth in the hole that is St. George. They don't have water for those that are already there but who cares. Just pray harder for rain.

Thanks for posting this. A friend sent it to me this morning and I was going to share it.

How ubiquitous are temple lawns in other parts of the country? In other countries (particularly where lawns are not part of the culture--I live in Japan)?

someone should post a chart of water rate$ for several locations, that should tell part of the story.

I lived in Israel for a few years. They are the best water managers in the world. They would look at our southwest and envy the water resources there. You literally can see the border of Israel and Jordan. It’s green on the Israeli side and desert on the Jordan side.

Sure weather plays a part in the problem but mismanagement of resources and incompetence is a bigger part. Our own military is suggesting putting desalination plants on the west coast and Sea of Cortez to take the load off of the Colorado river system.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2022 11:56AM by Tevai.

I'm curious, if you happen to know -- in what ways does Israel better manage its water resources? Do they use desalination plants?

I agree that too much of a burden has been put on the Colorado River. I know that this was an issue back in the 1970s when I was living in Colorado, and I'm sure much earlier than that as well. A college friend's father was a water rights lawyer back then.

I believe one of the ways is to use a lot of drip irrigation, often under the leaves... Ground cover is important too.

Israel does have desalination plants and they pioneered drip irrigation.

One way to conserve water is to let the lawn grow longer. It makes a huge difference. You are not going to have the neatly mowed lawn people seem to get off on but you will have a green healthy lawn that uses less water. Also plugging the lawn and adding some peat moss will help retain water better.

Just give each member a seer stone and order them to dig up their property to find the buried treasure that keeps slip slidin' away.

No need for a lawn with dig holes everywhere.

And one which might appeal to the faithful...

M lawn is pretty green. I don't have an automatic sprinkling system (yet my "Husband" has put in plenty for other people--his job was supervisor over grounds and he has a horticulture degree). He retired and so he waters the lawn now. He is better at making sure he doesn't over water. I have tons of ground cover and TONS of trees in the ground cover.

When they used to limit us on water, the day of the week we could water, we all watered completely. They found that it didn't help, but hurt. So now limiting water this year.

Mine isn't a perfectly manicured yard.

BUT some of the mormons have let their yards go completely. One is now putting bark on top of the weeds. I know what will happen then. Lots of weeds will grow in the bark. I don't think they are doing what they are for the drought. They were all letting their yards die before the drought. A few of them mowed down their dead weeds, but not all of them. They just had a big weedy yard. Adds to the ambiance of the neighborhood.

There are a lot of farmers in Utah. That takes a lot of water.

The city waters daily. They water up by Blacksmith Fork Canyon in the mornings at the park and the wind blows so hard that the water doesn't water where it is supposed to.

I'm with you, cl2. We don't get enough rain where I am for a lawn, so I don't have one. There is some grass, some clover, some dock - and lots of other plants whose names I don't know. Both honeybees and bumblebees love it. I cut it about twice a year... What I DO water are my pots and anything that has been planted recently, but I do that with a watering can, using recovered rainwater until it runs out; I have about 10 days' worth when it's full.

I think one of the secrets of gardening is avoiding growing plants which have no chance of success, for whatever reason: wrong soil, wrong mix of shade/sun, moisture (I use that word just to trigger all you exmos ;-).

> I think one of the secrets of
> gardening is avoiding growing
> plants which have no chance of
> success, for whatever reason:
> wrong soil, wrong mix of shade/
> sun, moisture (I use that word
>just to trigger all you exmos ;-).
>

This explains why non-Anglo-Saxon looking people should avoid mormonism

As should Anglo-Saxon-looking people, IMO