SportsTurf

IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE 34 SportsTurf | August 2016 www.sportsturfonline.com to them. Each consumer group believes its water require- ments should be primary. Governments must consider the desires or various clientele and may struggle to find balance when developing water policy. In many cases, the sports turf industry becomes a political target, particularly with regards to golf. Often regarded as a "sport for the rich," water use on the courses takes heat as a wasteful luxury. With the assump- tion that green grass is the result of excess water use, highly maintained athletic complexes, parks and other sports fields may experience some of the same social pressures. In the turfgrass industry, we are most concerned with the agricultural definition of drought. Inadequate soil moisture can occur at any time, even in "water-rich" regions. Agricultural drought can be caused by soil conditions, cultural practices or a number of other factors. The challenge is managing moisture throughout the soil profile so it can be made available to the plant. This article will focus on technologies that help managers use the water they can afford or are allotted by the most efficient means. Beyond the advancements in irrigation hardware and software, there are many other technologies available for the management of water in the soil. They can have very different modes of activity, and each has been designed for a specific function and purpose. Understanding each technology and soil/water interaction will help turf managers decided which strategy is best suited for their specific situation. The first step in deciding what technology to use is to diagnose the reason for a water problem. THREE FATES OF WATER With each irrigation cycle or rainfall, water will succumb to one of three inevitable fates. The desired outcome results in water entering the soil system, being taken up by the plant, and eventually lost to transpiration. Unfortunately, the forces THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WATER AND SOILS Editor's note: This article was written by James Spindler, CPAg, CCA, CPSS. He is Director of Agronomy at Ecologel Solutions, LLC; President of BioPro Technologies, LLC; and Research Director for the OJ Noer Foundation. W ater management has become a major issue in the sports turf industry over the last decade. In the past, water was considered an unlimited resource and was a concern only when an occa- sional drought occurred. Today, all regions have experienced a change in attitude regarding water. Influenced by rising costs, recurrent drought, use restrictions, politics and social pressures, turf managers are expected to do more with less. First, the cost of water in many markets, including "water- rich" regions, has increased dramatically since the turn of the century. Surveys have revealed that the cost of water has risen by 25% to 30% in many municipalities, with increases reach- ing as high as 300% or more in some regions. Is money better spent on other budgetary items than on irrigation? Whether working on the professional level or with a local youth com- plex, finding ways to manage water from an economical sense has become important to everyone. Second, the recent severe droughts in the western US, espe- cially California and Texas, have focused property managers and policy makers to reconsider how to best manage water resources. These droughts have reduced some water reser- voirs to less than 25% of capacity and have stressed ground water supplies. We have read widely of wells going dry during these times, and many areas have imposed turf and landscape watering restrictions. Consumers have different perspectives about water when it becomes scarce. There are different definitions of drought depending on who is defining it. These include: Meteorological. A measure of departure of precipitation from normal. This is due to climatic differences. What might be considered a drought in one location of the country may not be a drought in another location. Agricultural. Refers to a situation where the amount of moisture in the soil no longer meets the needs of a particular crop, including turf and ornamentals. Hydrological. This occurs when surface and subsurface water supplies are below normal. Socioeconomic. This refers to the situation that occurs when physical water shortages begin to affect people. One can imagine how conflicts can occur between various water consumers based on the drought definition that applies How wetting agents work.

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