Turfgrass covers more land in the conti-
nental US than the next 10 agricultural
crops combined; approximately 40,000,000
acres of turf covers 1.9% of the total land.
This fact, coupled with turf 's relatively high
water demands and the perception it is a
purely aesthetic crop, make it a common
target for water restrictions. While water
restrictions can make managing high-
quality turf more difficult, they do not
make it impossible.
Restrictions come in various forms,
but they often will limit both the timing
and the amount of irrigation that can be
performed using potable water; however,
they do not normally restrict irriga-
tion with effluent or grey water. These
unrestricted water sources provide turf
managers options beyond simply allowing
their turf to suffer when water restrictions
are initiated. Additionally, effluent water
is usually far cheaper than potable water.
While effluent/grey water irrigation is a
very important tool for turfgrass managers
faced with heavy constraints on irrigation,
its use does not come without concerns of
its own. The use of effluent and reclaimed
water for irrigation is regarded by health
authorities nationwide as being harmless
to humans; however, due to the salts that
they often contain they can cause a bevy
of harmful effects for turfgrasses and soils.
Knowing what issues that irrigation with
saline water can cause and how these issues
can best be managed can mean the differ-
ence between effluent water being your
biggest asset or your worst enemy.
While the levels of salts present in
effluent water vary, it is important to
understand that even when using water
24 SportsTurf | May 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com
ALL VARIETIES ARE NOT THE SAME
WHEN IT COMES TO SALINITY
FIELD SCIENCE
■ BY JAMES W. CROSS
Tall Fescue Seedlings of a single variety 14
days after planting
