Golf Course 2030 Water

Intro

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Introduction and Executive Summary Water, like many other natural resources, is variable in its supply. Over the last 40-50 years, golf courses have become increasingly reliant on artificial irrigation to maintain and improve turfgrass quality. All golf courses have a duty to themselves, and to the wider environment to ensure that their water sourcing strategies are sustainable and secure for long term use.

Monitoring

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Site Water Action and Management Plans The initial step in any irrigation changes. Golf clubs should have a continually updated site water action and management plan for the whole golf course.

Technology

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Water use monitoring Modern irrigation systems will keep detailed records of water use at different times and for different areas. However, main water inlets or storage systems should also be accurately monitored to ensure water losses are not occurring.

Technology

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Soil moisture sensors and moisture monitoring Technology is increasingly being used by greenkeepers to inform irrigation decisions.

Water Source

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Water Source: Hierarchy The initial step in any irrigation changes within a site should be to consider a system of hierarchy when sourcing irrigation water.

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Water Source

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Borehole Abstraction A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. The borehole can be used to extract and/or store water for later use.

Water Source

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River Abstraction To remove or abstract water from a surface water source, e.g. river, reservoir or lake, and take more than 20 m³ (approximately 4,400 gallons) a day, an abstraction licence is required

Water Source

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Rainwater Harvesting On-site Golf courses, by their very nature, are large areas of land which form large catchment areas. The volume of water which enters and leaves a golf course each year, therefore, is likely to be significant. This water can be collected and stored for later reuse.

Water Source

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Rainwater Harvesting Offsite Typically, golf clubs must deal with water entering their golf course from other sources. This can come in the form of existing streams or rivers, ditches, wastewater discharge and surface run-off from fields or roads.

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Water Source

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Greywater Greywater is wastewater produced within buildings which does not have human or animal waste/contamination.

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Water Source

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Treated Wastewater This water can be defined as water that has been used in a domestic, commercial, agricultural or industrial setting. The majority of domestic wastewater is sewage, drainage or grey water, whilst commercial, agricultural and industrial water can be drainage, by-product water or sewage.

Water Source

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Desalination Desalination reduces the salt content in sea water a level that is acceptable for a particular application.

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Water Source

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Closed Loop Reedbed and Washdown Facilities Washdown water is treated by the treatment system, stored and then pumped back to the washdown facility when required for reuse.

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Rainwater Harvesting

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Blue and Green Roofs The built environment within a golf course, such as the clubhouse or greenkeeping facility, can be modified or designed to have blue and/or green roofs.

Water Storage

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Local Storage Ponds Ponds are permanent bodies of water that can provide attenuation of surface water run-off, storage of irrigation water, treatment of surface water run-off and, when incorporated within a golf course, a water hazard

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Water Storage

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Integrated Storage Pond Individual ponds can be installed in a series so that they cascade into each other.

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Water Storage

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Rainwater Harvesting: Small Scale A good starting point for golf courses is to harvest small volumes of water. This can be very easy and cheap to initially set up, and can allow the club to gain experience to help with larger projects in the future.

Water Storage

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Rainwater Harvesting: Larger Scale Storage To increase the volume collected, rainwater can be harvested from roofs, car parks and other hard standing areas and stored in larger tanks or moved to a site-wide storage system.

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Water Storage

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Rainwater Harvesting: Reservoir Reservoirs can be used to store water for use with an irrigation system and/or to control run-off discharging from a site.

Flood Mitigation

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Surface Water Prevention of localised surface flooding and water-logging is the main aim of most golf course drainage schemes

Flood Mitigation

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River Flooding Normally, any type of development work on a site greater than 1 ha in size requires a flood risk assessment. A flood risk assessment covers both river (fluvial) and surface water (pluvial) flooding.

Drainage

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Drainage The installation of drainage onto golf courses provides a perfect opportunity to link with a water harvesting system.

Irrigation

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Irrigation System: Audit Auditing an existing irrigation system is paramount to ensure the effectiveness of the system and maximise water use efficiency.

Irrigation

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Irrigation System: Design The performance and effectiveness of an irrigation system is dependent upon its design. A golf club will likely require a new irrigation system every 20-25 years. Decisions made at this stage can affect the long-term effectiveness and sustainability of the system. A poorly designed irrigation system cannot be made to function properly with remedial measures at a later date.

Irrigation

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Irrigation System: Maintenance and Servicing Regular maintenance and checking the operation of the system is essential, especially in areas/times when the system is not being used on a daily basis.

Irrigation

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Irrigation System: Operation & Use Irrigation can be harmful as well as beneficial. Too little water and the turf will die – too much water and the turf will die. Therefore, it is important to know all the details and requirements of the turfgrass being maintained and the properties and characteristics of the rootzones in which they are growing.

Irrigation

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pH change The chemical content of water, as well as its quality, can have a large impact upon water efficiency. Many irrigation sources are alkaline (pH above 7.5). This can result in inefficient irrigation practices with water taking a long time to infiltrate, increasing losses from evaporation, poor response from plants due to locking up of nutrients and potential issues with clogging of irrigation systems.

Irrigation

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Alternative Irrigation Alternative irrigation systems can be used in specific areas to reduce water use.

General

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Agronomic The agronomic management and the water management of a golf course are inherently linked. The agronomic decisions that are taken in respect of managing turf playing surfaces should always be considered in light of a sustainable, integrated, site water management action plan.

General

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Behavioral Golf clubs need to work on educating and informing their membership and visitors of the challenges faced with long-term water provision. This should focus on the long-term prognosis for water availability and climate change.

General

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Site Building Water Reduction On large golf course complexes with additional facilities, such as hotels and spas the golf irrigation system is not actually the main user of water.

General

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Current Drainage Practices Good drainage is probably the most important aspect of providing a well-maintained golf course.

General

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Current Irrigation Practices The majority of UK golf courses have some form of automatic irrigation. This can range from pop up sprinklers located on key areas such as greens and tees, all the way through to wall-to-wall irrigation of all managed turf areas. Water is supplied to these systems from a range of sources, including mains water, borehole, river abstraction or onsite harvested water. Many clubs will utilise a combination of these typical supplies.