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Inland golf courses face challenges of water conservation

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 9, 2008 at 6:48 am

From Riverside’s Press-Enterprise:

It might not be equivalent to screaming “fire” in a crowded theater, but mention “drought” and you’ll surely give nightmares to many golf course operators.

On the heels of the state’s driest spring in 88 years, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the magic word in May, declaring the first drought in California since 1991 and hoping the proclamation would shake his constituents into taking water conservation seriously.

John Martinez, director of golf operations at The SCGA Golf Course in Murrieta, is among those paying attention. “The water situation is extremely serious,” Martinez said by phone. “And I don’t think most people really realize how serious it is.”

Golfers in Northern California’s Alameda and Contra Costa counties probably do. Courses in those communities faced 30-percent cuts in water usage when rationing went into effect in May.

No cutbacks have been mandated in Southern California, but that doesn’t mean golf course operators such as Martinez aren’t concerned about the state’s decreasing water supply, what it could mean for their facilities and what they can do to make due if the situation deteriorates. The more conscious, forward-thinking courses are going the reclaimed water route, or have done so already.

Eight years ago the SCGA course spent $1.6 million to implement an irrigation system that uses exclusively recycled water, instead of potable groundwater. Martinez said the savings have paid off about 60 percent of the cost.

“Not too bad for a system designed to last 25 years,” Martinez said. “It really makes sense for any golf course sitting on the sidelines thinking about it to do it now. In order for them to survive, they need to do whatever it takes to get reclaimed water.”

Read more on this story from Riverside’s Press-Enterprise by clicking here.

July 9, 2008 · Filed Under Recycled Water

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