Golf course excluded from Pedernales tourism development plan

The General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships (DGAPP) voluntarily excluded from the Pedernales Tourism Development Plan the golf course that was initially proposed next to the coast because it impacted an area of high biodiversity value, so it is excluded from the scope of this license, and the DGAPP will ensure the conservation of the identified location.

The Pedernales Master Plan defined the golf course area “in the eastern part of the project, behind the bluff and beyond hotel phases 2 and 4 and between two residential areas”. The golf course includes infrastructure, machinery, a clubhouse, and equipment.

However, the license goes beyond the exclusion of the DGAPP and states that it “excludes from the scope of the license the remaining golf course, until the DGAPP presents a design option that guarantees that the irrigation water will come exclusively from wastewater treatment and will have automated systems to optimize water consumption through real-time meteorological data, or other alternatives that guarantee the water sustainability of the course. This proposal must be evaluated by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources to determine its feasibility”.

Likewise, the design of the golf course irrigation system to be evaluated, among other factors, must take into account the location of the course, the influence of the wind, the type of availability for irrigation, and the days and hours with the wind. In addition, the approach to an efficient irrigation system requires consideration of water savings, electricity savings, the use of low-consumption species, and providing dry grass where possible.