The World of Water to Come
January 1, 2009 By: Larry Aylward GolfdomWhile tending turfgrass in parched Southern California for the past decade, longtime golf course superintendent Bruce Williams has realized more than ever how vital it is to manage water properly.
 Water flies at the North Shore Country Club in Northbrook, Ill. (TOP PHOTO COURTESY: DAN DINELLI; PHOTO RIGHT BY: LARRY AYLWARD) |
"Water is an extremely precious commodity," says Williams, the director of golf courses and grounds for the Los Angeles Country Club. "Probably the most-important thing we do on the golf course every day is manage the water."
It is this mindset that more golf course superintendents, whether they hail from arid Arizona or waterlogged Washington, must grasp in the future. If they think the freshwater shortage is serious now, just wait until 2025. If they think their irrigation practices are being scrutinized now, just wait until 2025.
Unless the world's population acts swiftly, the United Nations predicts that two-thirds of the world's population will live in countries that face serious freshwater shortages in 2025. In America, at least 36 states expect to face water shortages within the next five years, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. When one hears such alarming statistics, it's hard to consider where the golf industry fits in the equation. Nobody will argue that healthy turfgrass is more important than healthy lives.
 Bruce Williams says the most important thing he does every day at the Los Angeles Country Club is manage water use. |
That said, golf will still be a viable industry in 2025, and golf courses will still use their share of fresh water. But how much fresh water they use in 2025 will depend more than ever on cost and availability. Golf courses' freshwater use could also diminish if they have more access to effluent water. And superintendents' water-management skills should improve immensely thanks to better technology.
Tomorrow's irrigation
In 2025, Matt Shaffer, superintendent of the Merion (Pa.) Golf Club, expects that authorities will allocate the amount of fresh water that golf courses can use for irrigation.
"It could get to the point where you're actually told how many acres of greens, tees, fairways and roughs you'll be allowed to irrigate," says Shaffer, adding that local water authorities in 2025 might also have the authority to turn off the fresh water flowing to a golf course if that course has used up its allocation.
"I'm sure they'll have some kind of automatic reading device that will be able to tabulate how much water we're taking out of an aquifer," Shaffer adds.
Mark Jarrell, superintendent of the Palm Beach National Golf and Country Club in Lake Worth, Fla., has probably been through more water restrictions in south Florida the past few years than all Northern superintendents combined. Hence, there's one thing Jarrell knows about the future of golf course irrigation.
"Everything will be geared toward conservation and doing as much as we can to save as much water as possible," he says.
In 2025, Jarrell and many superintendents agree that freshwater conservation will be spelled E-F-F-L-U-E-N-T.
"I think we'll see nearly 100 percent effluent in Florida by 2025," Jarrell says of golf course irrigation in the state. "While effluent irrigation is a big part of the answer to water reduction, there will have to be more delivery systems."
 Dan Dinelli is one of several superintendents who is impressed with wireless sensors. Dinelli calls the technology "awesome." (PHOTO LEFT COURTESY: DAN DINELLI; PHOTO RIGHT BY: HOWARD P. NUEMBERGER) |
Williams also expects effluent water use to grow. He says about 33 percent of California courses irrigate with effluent, and he expects that number to rise in coming years if the infrastructure is available for courses to do so.
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