Water management

It’s Memorial Day and the temperatures are starting to rise, slowly. With the increase in warmth comes the need to water the turf and there is no formula for determining the needs of the plant. But advances in technology and experience can help get the water where it is needed most.

Water management is one of the most important and difficult tasks that confronts a superintendent. Use too much water and we increase insects, disease, and the possibility of death of the plant. Use too little water and we increase stress on the plant and also likely death. The balance is crucial and very difficult to achieve.

Too much of anything is a bad thing right? Well, when it comes to water on turf, it is definitely true. Too much water can bring about many problems. Insect pests of turf grass rely on water just as do all other living things. Many of these pests thrive in wet conditions. So when the turf is overwatered or even just saturated naturally, the pest populations can skyrocket. Similarly, the fungi that attack turf grass rely on a moist environment. When the soil is over saturated the plant can be deprived of oxygen causing it to weaken and become susceptible to attack from a pathogen. Another problem caused by over watering is environmental. The public has a perception of golf courses as abusers of natural resources. Nothing is further from the truth. We use many sophisticated tools to ensure that we use only the amount of watered specifically needed by the plant and only in a specific location.  Moisture meters are one such tool. There are several different types of moisture meters but we use the TDR 300. The TDR works by sticking two probes into the ground, sending an electrical signal between the two probes and then measuring the time it takes for that signal to travel from one probe to the other. Water is a good conductor of electricity, so in wetter soils the time is shorter and this is represented by a higher water content percentage number displayed on a screen. As one becomes more familiar with each area of the golf course, a base number can be identified below which the plant will show signs of wilt. By measuring in the morning and adding water if necessary, we can set the plant up to handle the days stress with precisely the amount of water it will need.

A hose is another tool that enables proper water management. Although it is a little less sophisticated, it is no less important. Hand watering provides water to the plants that need supplemental watering and only to the plants that need this additional water. For example, if the right half of a green gets afternoon shade then it will lose less water out of its system than the left side which is in full sun. Now, if we need to add water to only the left side than running the sprinklers on the entire green is wasteful and potentially harmful to the right side that does not need the water. So instead we use a hose and only water the left side of the green.

A hose is perfect for small areas that need additional water. But often times there are larger areas that need water and using a hose across the entire space would not work. Advances in irrigation technology have helped with this issue. Radio controlled irrigation heads can be turned on by using a hand-held radio. By punching the specific code for a certain area, we can turn on the sprinklers only in that area. For example, if we need to water only #7 tee, we can punch in the code for that tee box and water only there rather than running water on all the tees. We can run half of a fairway or only the left or right side of an entire hole. We can even turn on only one single sprinkler if needed. This level of control gives a superintendent great flexibility in the management of water.

Each of these tools helps with water management. By measuring water content, we can keep the moisture level just above what the plant needs, but not high enough to increase pest populations. Using a hose or radio controlled sprinklers, site-specific watering reduces water use and increases efficiency. By managing the water in a more site-specific manner, conditions are kept more consistent across the course and the golfers and turf benefit.

Happy Memorial Day!

 See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org