California Reality

Several Southwestern states have felt the effects of drought for more than a decade. While Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico have felt the pain, it appears as though California has set the trends for regulations, collaboration and problem solving by working with regulators to come up with the best solutions. There is no single simple answer, but a set of broad initiatives has proven to work best.

The history

California is a state with a variety of climates. Within 100 miles of Los Angeles, temperatures can vary by as much as 35 degrees on any given day. Snow can fall in the mountains while people are surfing in the ocean and temps can exceed 114 degrees in the Palm Springs area. Rainfall in Southern California averages less than 10 inches annually and that can occur with a couple of two-inch rains and maybe a dozen other rain days in the year.

Northern California differs in its climate. Along the coast there is much more rain and a series of rivers and deltas that can supply water throughout the year. East of the Sierra mountains the conditions are arid like the southern part of the state.

Visitors to California see all the greenery throughout the state and believe there is more than enough water to fulfill the needs of the growing population. Nothing could be further from the truth. Without water being diverted from the Bay Area through an engineered aqueduct, the southern half of the state would be much less populated. Aside from the aqueduct, parts of So Cal get water from the Colorado River as designated in treaties prior to the 1950s.

Few desalinization plants exist at this time and aquifers are challenged with the competition for water from residents, industry, greenspace and agriculture. Water is distributed by 3,000 individual water districts in the state. Getting everyone on board with the same game plan can be complicated.

California is no stranger to drought. We saw a drought emergency declared by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 1976-77. Brown declared his second drought emergency in 2014. Hopefully we have learned lessons from not only 1976 but also the Dust Bowl droughts of 1928-35 and multiyear droughts in 1947-50 and 1959-60.

El Niño

This was supposed to be the year when rainfall would be above normal and hopes of filling the many reservoirs would be fulfilled. While the North received some much needed rain, the South is about 50 percent of the average rainfall. The most important part of the wet season is the snowfall. With the snowpack in the mountains up North, it can provide water flow into the summer months when water is most needed. The snowpack was better than in the past, but still not enough to fill reservoirs that were recently at all-time lows.

While other parts of the United States have received torrential downpours and serious flooding, the Southwest has seen no such thing. The closest thing was a recent downpour in Las Vegas that flooded the streets for a few hours. Climatologists have estimated that it would take more than three years of above average rainfall for reservoirs to be at full capacity.

Mandates and regulations

Several years ago, Brown had the foresight to put into effect a state of emergency regarding water usage in California. His original mandate was to have a 20 percent reduction in water consumption by the year 2020. This would include all components of water usage. The first reaction was, “No way!” It took a while for it to sink in that the drought was not a short-term situation but a future way of life for Californians.

About 10 years ago, a task force was developed with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the golf community. Thirty-two golf courses exist within the jurisdiction of the LADWP. Those golf courses received their water from a variety of sources, including groundwater, potable water and canal water. It took many meetings over a couple of years to develop strategies to reduce water by as much as 25 percent in the Los Angeles golf market.

“I think that the state will be better positioned in the future due to decisions that are being made now. We should use this slight breather that Mother Nature gave us to work together to replenish our overall water supplies. The long-term success of the golf industry in California depends on it.” — Craig Kessler, Southern California Golf Association

The most important thing about the task force with the LADWP is that golf and the water agency were working together to achieve a desired goal. It became apparent more can be accomplished when you are in the room with decisions being made than just accepting the outcomes from a regulatory agency.

Methodology to accomplish goals

Early discussions involved recommendations from engineers who did not really understand the complexities of golf course management and growing high-quality turfgrass. Through a proper dialogue, it quickly became apparent that the concept of watering on specific days of the week and no more than 10 minutes per head would not work.

The golf community stated its case that as long as there was a 20 percent or greater reduction in water, what would it matter how it was accomplished? It quickly became apparent golf course superintendents were well educated and had sophisticated irrigation systems in which they could accomplish this goal in a short period of time.

With mutual respect and trust a lot can be accomplished.

A variety of methods to accomplish goals

Turn reductions

Hundreds of acres of irrigated turf were removed among the 32 golf courses and replaced with drought-tolerant plants and woodchips, pine straw or decomposed granite among. Superintendents worked with landscape and golf course architects. It didn’t hurt that the LADWP was offering cash incentives for achieving turf reduction. This did not achieve the 20 percent plus reduction but it was a huge head start and could be done with little or no negative financial impact. The key was long term sustainable water reduction.

Irrigation system improvements

Older or poorly designed systems were audited and found to have less than 60 percent distribution uniformity. In an area where there is little rainfall, it is necessary to make sure your pumping system is operating optimally and also using reduced amounts of electricity. Water agencies had been offering rebates for replacement of worn nozzles on irrigation heads and this too would show immediate returns on investment or little or no cost if rebates were available.

Evaluating grass choices

In the Transition Zone, there is no single grass that will provide high quality year around. Years of overseeding saw many courses with more cool-season grasses than warm-season grasses. Gradually we saw cultural programs favoring Bermudagrass on many of the golf courses and that resulted in much less water required. In all areas but the desert we seldom see fairways overseeded and that also results in a lesser water requirement.

Judicious watering practices

There has been a change in watering practices for golf greens in the last decade. Moisture sensors are either planted in greens or individual sensing tools are used daily to accurately find out the percentage of moisture in the root zone. Each course sets its own parameters for moisture content and then hand waters accordingly rather than using all the irrigation heads to possibly overwater areas with sufficient moisture just to cover the droughty areas.

Golfers have adjusted to the changes in watering practices. Firm and fast not only refers to greens, but through the green as well. There is no need to have lush Bermudagrass fairways so overall water reduction not only accomplishes the goals of the regulations but provides improved playing conditions.

Once a practical plan has demonstrated the success of collaboration with an entity like golf and a water agency, it is much easier to mold plans in some of the larger agencies in the state of California. Currently talks are ongoing with San Diego and the Coachella Valley Water District. Discussions have also taken place with several water agencies in the northern half of the state. It takes a lot of time and energy to devote to water issues. The state is fortunate to have Craig Kessler working on behalf of golf with our many water issues. Kessler is the director of governmental affairs for the Southern California Golf Association. He handles more than water, but nobody in the state knows more about the inner workings of regulations and how to work together to accomplish mutual goals. Kessler has been spending up to 80 percent of his time on golf water issues but now finds that more like 60 percent of his workload.

“I think that the state will be better positioned in the future due to decisions that are being made now,” Kessler says. “We should use this slight breather that Mother Nature gave us to work together to replenish our overall water supplies. The long-term success of the golf industry in California depends on it.”

Jeff Jensen, GCSAA regional staff, is a familiar face and voice at water agency meetings. “I think that it will be paramount for the golf industry to continue to develop and use alternative supplies of water,” Jensen says. “While 45.5 percent of courses in the Southwest agronomic region have adopted some form of recycled water, other technologies like scalping plants, desalinization, stormwater collection and treated brackish water will assist in supplying courses with a reliable and dependable sources of irrigation water. These new technologies are expensive and it will be important for the golf industry to work with their local water providers and the state to obtain potential funding through grants and other programs.”

Mike Huck, of Irrigation and Turfgrass Services, is another key voice in California regarding water usage, quality and regulations. “Some byproducts of less residential water usage is an increase of salt levels in recycled water,” Huck says. “There is also less volume of flow into treatment facilities resulting in less recycled water for golf courses. We are also seeing some courses that used potable water on greens now switching to recycled as a result of regulations and availability.”

Final thought

California has seen drought conditions before. Through thorough analysis, the state knows it is imperative to conserve our water. This can and will be done in a variety of ways. Golf has been at the forefront of these efforts. The California Alliance for Golf has been critical in working on these initiatives both on the local level and also in Sacramento.

When it comes to problem solving, nobody does it better than the people in golf. We became a part of the dialogue and sat at the table when many regulations were made to ensure regulations were not onerous and were achievable. It is hopeful that those actions taken in California will help to establish Better Management Practices for many other states across our country.

Bruce Williams is GCI’s senior contributing editor.