Environment

Golf courses fined almost one million euros for water extraction

Environment ministry agent carrying out golf course test. | CAIB

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma20/08/2018 00:00

The environment ministry's water resources directorate has issued fines to three golf courses over the past three years which amount to 959,000 euros. The proceedings, says the ministry, have been in accordance with its campaign for the control of water use by large consumers. To this end, agents from the ministry have been performing inspections to check on potentially fraudulent consumption of water.

The first fine was for 250,000 euros. It was imposed on the Camp de Mar course in Andratx. Water was being illegally extracted with a capacity of 720 cubic metres per day was used exclusively to water the course. A further supply, water for human consumption, was also detected - up to 173 cubic metres, and this too was used for course watering.

The Vall d'Or course in Portocolom has been issued with a fine of 177,000 euros for unauthorised extraction of water that was mixed with water that was legally supplied from the local treatment plant.

The third sanctioning procedure has been for the Son Gual course in Palma, which has been fined 532,000 euros for three unauthorised drillings for water, two of which supplied water.

Meanwhile, the Camp de Mar course was closed on Monday because of issues with the supply of treated water from the Andratx plant. The course director, Dirk Dünkler, said that the quality of this water has been poor for some two and a half months and has a negative effect on the course's grass.