Irrigation Management Considerations When Using Reuse Water on Golfcourses in the Arid Southwest

Proper irrigation management is critical when using poor quality water such as reuse water on golf courses in the arid southwestern United States. Results from multiple studies conducted by this author are reviewed and reported on in this paper. A survey of golf course superintendent's attitudes and perceptions toward using reuse water revealed little opposition to using reuse water but a realization that using reuse water can negatively impact golf course operations. Key irrigation management factors are discussed that can significantly alter the ability of a superintendent to maintain a healthy productive turfgrass stand when using reuse water. The quality of reuse water varies from region to region and superintendents need to have real time water quality analysis to successfully maintain favorable water, nutrient and salt balances. Golfcourses also contain a significant amount of trees, shrubs and flowering annuals in which care must be taken to minimize foliar application of reuse water. Because in the future golfcourses in the arid southwest may face the challenge of being forced to deficit irrigate with reuse water, it is critical that the golf course industry be proactive toward this challenge. It is this author's opinion that golfcourses need to shift toward precision agriculture. This will require not only using weather based and soil based information but also cutting edge technology based on remote sensing.