SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/43432
FieldScience • Storm Water Runoff Management • Responsible turfgrass maintenance • Responsible water management for turf- grass • Reducing your carbon foot print • Recycling • Energy Performance STORM WATER MANAGEMENT TIPS Storm water pollutants should be every sports turf managers concern to help protect their local watershed. There are many things we all can do and should do to reduce the storm water pollutant load that is harming our local watershed and our local wildlife, food production and quality of life. First let's look at the storm water it filters, typically non pervious surfaces, for example, roof tops, parking lots, sidewalks and roadways generate lot of storm water pollutants. These are meas- ured in gallons. Look at the ratio chart below. Many gallons are affecting aquatic life in our local watersheds from alga bloom to con- tamination poison from heavy metals. Stop and think about where the water goes when you wash your turf equipment daily or the storm water runoff from rain events within your sports facility. There are many different types of storm water pollutants that can reach your tributaries associated with your sports complex. A list below indicates harmful side effects to our local watershed. Understanding some of terms asso- ciated with managing storm water is critical. Best Management Practices or (BMPs) is a term use for managing storm water. The basics is know how much you are generating or aver- aging through a typical rain storm of 1 inch. Examples for reducing your nutrient load: • Add rain gardens where storm water accu- mulates on your property. • Use cattails along culverts and ditch lines. • Plant several water lilies in storm water re- tention pond to block photosynthesis to pre- vent alga bloom. • Mow different heights around your ath- letic fields to slow down sheet water movement with higher grasses mows around the field. • Practice good housekeeping with all your One inch total rain fall non-pervious surface Roof Top (1000) sq-ft 600 Gallons of storm water runoff Sidewalk/Streets (237,600) sq ft- One Block 6,500 Gallons of storm water runoff Parking Lot (43,560) sq ft 27,000 Gallons of storm water runoff Tennis Court (7,200) sq-ft 4,100 Gallons of storm water runoff Natural Turfgrass Athletic Field (80,000) sq-ft 20,000 Gallons of storm water (Depending on soil Structure) Synthetic Turfgrass Athletic Field (80,000) sq-ft 27,154 Gallons of storm water run off 18 SportsTurf | October 2011 fertilizer products. Clean up spills or shop areas that stores fertilizers. Do not let them go down the drain. • Clean all sports facility drains and keeps them free of silt and other types of yard waste that can harm your local watershed. Here are some watershed pollutants to think about: Metals. There are more than 50 elements that can be classified as heavy metals, 17 of which are considered to be both very toxic and relatively accessible. Toxicity levels depend on the type of metal, its biological role, and the type of organisms that are exposed to it. Human and aquatic life is at-risk when these types of metals are introduced into our local watershed. My thought on this is simple: we use these chemicals for a purpose on our sports fields, but let's not stop reading the labels for directions. Let's put safeguards into place (please look at the solution list). We have to be responsible for applying these chemicals or for looking at safer alternatives for pest control on your sports turfgrass. • Mercury is one of the common metal pol- lutants. • Polychorinated biphenyis (PCB's) • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) • Organophosphate pesticides (herbicides and insecticides) • Organochlorine pesticides DDT, chlor- dane and chlorothalonil • Lead • Arsenic • Cadmium • Copper • Zinc • Chromium Nutrients. These chemicals affect plants and animals' survival rates in our local water- shed. When too many nutrients make their way into local rivers, streams and the bay, they can create conditions that are harmful for blue crabs, bay grasses and other underwater life that might be harvested recreationally or com- mercially. Excess amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, are two types of nutrients that are local and are a national reason for poor water quality in our watershed. Nitrogen, broken down from activities listed below. • Emission from vehicles, turf equipment, electric utilities, etc. • Chemical fertilizers applied in aquaculture and suburbia settings • Treated wastewater discharge from indus- trial facilities and municipal wastewater treat- ment plants • Manure from aquaculture land • Septic systems that leach into watershed Phosphorus, broken down from activities listed below. • Erosion sediment from stream banks in urban and suburban areas • Manure from aquaculture land • Treated wastewater released from munici- pal and industrial wastewater facilities • Chemical fertilizers from aquaculture and suburbia land • Natural sources and forest land SOLUTIONS • Incorporate cattails in swells or drainage areas on the sides of sports fields and other areas to absorb nitrogen and other harmful storm water pollutants. • Wash off mowers on pervious surfaces like grassy areas. • Provide secondary containment for all gas, oil, pesticides, fertilizers and spill kits. • Provide rain gardens for sport fields, park- ing lots. • Plant native trees and shrubs that can aid in filtering and reducing storm water pollu- tions. • Incorporate buffer zone for rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, creeks, ditch lines, culverts and athletic fields. • Naturalize areas within your complex. • Patrol for recycling/litter. • Feed the soil not the turf using 100% or- ganic fertilizers that can stop volatilization and process a high WSN rate of 70% -80% for slow release feeding. Liquid fertilizer and syn- thetic fertilizers can break down fast, resulting in vitalization, rapid runoff and more high rates of WIN with 20-40 of product rapidly breaking down. These types of products break down very fast and which result in a flush of N at one time. • Manage appropriated turfgrass for your climatic zone that can reduce your pesticide and fertilizer input. • Add rain gardens where storm water accu- mulates and stands within your property. • Plant several water lilies in storm water re- tention pond to block photosynthesis to pre- vent alga bloom. www.sportsturfonline.com