Because of the grass quality, golf courses require several times more water than normally used. And to keep the grass up to golfing standards, pesticides and other chemical preparations are used heavily on it. Relevant statistics show that over 50 chemical preparations are applied to golf course grass a year. And some seep into the soil and pollute groundwater.

Beijing is to investigate underground water pollution at gas stations and golf courses during the 2006-2010 period. This is identified in the five-year Geologic Investigation Development Plan released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of State Land and Resources on December 25.

The plan aims to discover the geologic condition of the three newly-developed areas of Shunyi District, Tongzhou District and Yizhuang Area and to produce a supervisory system for geological disaster of Shunyi District by 2008. The starting point will be a special monitoring program on underground water around garbage disposal sites, gas stations and golf courses. The investigation will be completed by 2010.

During the process, specialists will assess the quality and pollution of underground water in Beijing's flat land areas. They will then evaluate the water quality and levels of pollution. At the same time they will forecast pollution trends and work out solutions to prevent and clean up pollutions.

A supervision and warning system for heavily polluted areas will be started and the risk of underground water evaluated based on studying soil statistics.

The location selection for garbage landfill sites will also be evaluated as part of the plan. In the planning of landfill garbage sites, the underground water geology, the penetrability and pollution risk would be evaluated and pretreatment measurements prepared.

(China.org.cn by Chen Lin, December 30, 2006)