ABSTRACT
Regardless of the source of irrigation water used on golf courses-recycled, effluent, reclaimed, reuse, brackish, gray, stormwater, well water, rivers, reservoirs, ponds, lakes, creeks, streams-all of these sources will contain some level of salinity and possibly nutrients (Huck et al., 2000). Alternative irrigation water quality applied to recreational turfgrass is as good as it will ever be and over the next few decades will continue to get worse, that is, more saline. Reuse of irrigation water, blending of various sources, harvesting water from watersheds (refer to Chapter 9 for additional information)—these will be normal, rather than novel, practices for irrigating grass in this century. As salt is the ultimate growth regulator, maintaining turfgrass growth and development, achieving acceptable putting standards on greens, tolerating the wear and traffic challenges that will be imposed on the turfgrass, and sustaining grass survivability long term without loading excess salts into the soil profile will be ultimate goals (Carrow and Duncan, 1998; Duncan et al., 2000). The strategy should be one focused on applying the lowest saline irrigation water that is available, and adjusting the site-specific management program to the salt load in the water.
