RESEARCHdedicated to enriching the environment of golf

SCIENCE FOR THE GOLF COURSE

process and the turf grass industry have hadmany years to adjust to appropriate BMPs.This is not likely to be the case with waterconservation.

In this article, water conservation will be;: the "example environmental issue" for dis-~ cussing the BMPs concept as the best means~ of dealing with environmental problems. We~ will focus on:i·Stating why a BMPs approach is the onlyif. reasonable and science-based means of deal-

ing with all environmental issues, includinglong-term global water conservation

• Encouraging state and local golf coursegroups to provide leadership to promotethis approach at the regulatory level in allenvironmental problem areas, but espe-cially in areas related to water conservation

• Encouraging golf courses to adopt andimplement BMPs approaches, not just inresponse to mandated regulations, but as aproactive environmental stewardship busi-ness policy; that is, the best operationsstrategy for sustainability of the environ-ment and the golf business

Although BMPs can be appropriately defined in relationship to a specific environmentalissue, for a broad definition, we suggest:

Best management practices are a combination of practices determined to be the mostpractical means of protecting the ecosystem. Practicability is demonstrated by a sensibleapplication of scientific, economic, environmental (direct and indirect impacts), aestheticand ethical considerations. BMPs can be fostered by voluntary or mandated regulatorypOlicy and applied on a site-specific basis.

Figure 1. Golf courses, such as this one in the UnitedArab Emirates,can enhance the environment and econ-omy in harsh environments by using BMPs to addressenvironmental concerns.

WHAT ARE BMPs?

and implemented in many areas. In addition,water conservation is fast becoming the dom-inant environmental issue for the golf courseindustry.

Water conservation encompasses bothwater quantity and irrigation water quality,and it is still an open question as to whichapproach - rigid regulations or BMPs - willbe enacted into the laws that govern it. Withother environmental issues, the regulatory

Environmental stewardship of the world'snatural resources is a concern for everyone.Natural resources that require careful protec-tion include air, soil, water quality and quan-tity, climate, natural ecosystems, energysources and endangered species. What is thebest way for an individual or a golf course toact as an environmental steward within theconfines of the regulations affecting the golfindustry?

BMPs: Critical for the golf industry

EDITOR'Sltno e:

This is the first in a series of three arti-cles highlighting the importance of best man-agement practices in relation to the golfindustry and environmental issues concern-ing water.

Robert N. Carrow, Ph.D.; Ron R. Duncan Ph.D.; and David Wienecke, M.S., CPAg

Best management practices are at the heart of successful environmental stewardship.

Dealing with environmental issuesThree broad approaches for dealing with

environmental issues that may confront thegolf industry are prevalent. The first, indiffer-ence or inattention, is no longer a choice.Stimulated by the publication of RachelCarson's book "Silent Spring" in 1962, soci-etal pressures have increasingly moved towardnational regulatory action to protect variousaspects of the environment. Two broadoptions remain for adoption and implemen-tation either at regulatory levels or at the site-specific, golf course level: rigid regulations orholistic, science-based methods; that is, bestmanagement practices (BMPs) (see sidebar).

Every individual in the turf grass industryshould have a clear understanding of thesetwo philosophies now because environmentalregulations protecting water quality havealready been - or soon will be - adopted

IGeM 81

June 2005

Figure 3. Turfgrass on the stream banks can reduce sediment and movement of pollutants into water features.

Consequences of rigid regulationsExamples of mandatory regulations

When a serious water shortage occurs inresponse to lack of precipitation, increasedpopulation and/or lack of long-term plan-ning, mandatory regulations are often the ini-tial response from government, such as:• Irrigation is allowed only on certain days of

the week, within narrow time frames, andonly on selected turf areas (reducing irri-gated turf acreage)

• The quantity of water available for irriga-tion is at or below the current average forgolf courses in the region

• All golf courses must reduce water use bya set percentage

• Combinations of the above

Some of these regulations certainly have arole to play under certain conditions, for exam-ple, as part of a local, state or regional crisiswater management policy, and where the cri-sis water management plan includes all waterusers with appropriate water-use restrictions.

Mandatory regulations often are imposedas a long-term water conservation policy with-out considering the consequences to the envi-ronment, economy and human health. Forexample, the current Proposition 50 WaterUse Efficiency program in California pro-poses using cash payments to encourageremoval of at least 400 square feet of turf fromindividual residential and commercial sites.What have been the impacts of turf grassremoval under the auspices of water conser-vation? This approach has been used beforewithout consideration for the potentialadverse effects on the specific site or on thelocal/state economy and environment.

applications. In contrast, a systemsapproach makes adjustments to the wholesystem: plant, soil, climatic/atmosphere,water, landscape and surrounds, manage-ment level and management resources.

• Rigid regulations do not encourage devel-opment or implementation of improvedscience-based technology or concepts.

Taking regulations to extremesThree examples illustrate what can happen

when turf removal is carried too far.• Grasses are a central plant for controlling

wind erosion, which causes soil loss. WhenChina removed all turf and many treesfrom Beijing's public spaces during the

Figure 2. Old Collier GC in Naples, Fla., has receivedseveral environmental stewardship awards by usingBMPs.

often triggers adverse economic impacts,loss of industry viability and undesirableenvironmental consequences.

• Rigid regulations replace site-specific man-agement with a "one size fits all" strategy.

• The education and expertise of superin-tendents is not valued.

• Rigid regulations are not based on wholesystems, but attempt to achieve conserva-tion by changing only one or two aspects,such as reducing irrigated turf or landscapeacreage; mandating irrigation durationand frequency; or outlawing pesticide

• Rigid regulations are based primarily onpolitics rather than science. The latest con-cepts and technology can be effectivelyapplied to environmental problems, butpolitical or personal beliefs that are notbased on good science cannot.

• Imposing rigid regulations as the primaryapproach to an environmental concern

Characteristics of rigid regulationsThe golf course industry faced its first

major environmental issue in the 1960s asattention was drawn to pesticide use byagricul-ture, horticulture and turfgrass enterprises. Thesequence of responses that occurred with thisenvironmental problem has often beenrepeated with other environmental issues,including water conservation. As regulatorypressures increase, politicians and regulatoryagencies initially tend to enact rigid regulations.

When crisis management regulations arecarried forward as the long-term approach to

an environmental problem, serious issues areoften overlooked by the politicians and otherpolicy makers. What is necessary in a crisis isnot always the best, reasonable approach forlong-term sustainability. Some of the com-mon problems with using this approach as aninitial and long-term solution for environ-mental issues are:

RESEARCH

82 GeM I June 2005

RESEARCH

Figure 4. Golf courses can provide habitat for wildlife, such as the eagle that has built a nest near a bunker.

Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, theresult was serious air pollution from duststorms, related health problems and higherair temperatures within the city (3).Revegetation with trees alone did notresolve the problem, and turfgrass had to berestored.

• Mowed turf grass can be an effective firebuffer; removal near homes can result inincreased fire hazards and higher home-owner insurance premiums. Firewise land-scaping for the wildland-urban interfacesuggests that zone 1 (30-foot ring aroundthe home) and zone 2 be well-irrigated,low-growing, low-flammability plantspecies; zone 3 should be low-growingplants and well-spaced trees with minimalvolume of vegetation biomass for fuel (7).Home sites without turf grass are most sus-ceptible to fire damage in dry years.

• Grasses are very effective in preventing andremediating soil degradation or quality bywind and water erosion, reducing soil lossand transport that adversely affects surfacewaters, preventing nutrient and pesticidetransport into surface and subsurfacewaters, and reducing urban water runofEGrass improves soil quality by contributingto organic matter in soils (5,11). Greenspaces also modify temperatures in urbanareas. If grass is removed, what will carryout these essential environmental roles inour urban areas?

Characteristics of the BMPs approachAccording to the Environmental Literacy

Council, in today's world, "Environmental lit-eracy requires a fundamental understanding ofthe systems of the natural world, the relation-ships and interactions between the living andthe non-living environment and the ability todeal sensibly with problems that involve scien-tific evidence, uncertainty, and economic, aes-thetic, and ethical considerations" (6).Achieving this whole-system, science-basedapproach to managing environmental prob-lems has been an evolving process within sci-ence, agriculture and government policy.

Background for BMPs developmentA holistic concept of dealing with environ-

mental issues has its roots in the IntegratedPest Management (IPM) approach that arosein the late 1960s and early 1970s in responseto how best to develop science-based pestcontrol strategies that could include judicious

use of pesticides within a system of othertypes of pest control (cultural, pest-resistantplants, pest predators, etc.) In 1972, theUSDA funded the first major IPM researcheffort; in 1977, the California Department ofFood and Agriculture initiated an IPM pro-gram; and in 1979 the University ofCalifornia started an IPM program.

Another milestone in the whole-systemsapproach to addressing environmental prob-lems was the "sustainable agriculture" move-ment, formalized in 1985 with the FoodSecurity Act, which provided for sustainableagriculture research (12). This was enhancedin 1988 by funding of the Low-InputSustainable Agriculture (LISA) program,which was expanded in 1990 to become theSustainable Agriculture Research andEducation Program (SARE).

Since the mid-1990s, the "precision agri-culture" concept has developed from withinthe sustainable agriculture philosophy.Although precision agriculture is not awhole-systems approach, it highlights a crit-ical component: inputs should be appliedonly where they are needed, at the raterequired, only when needed. Precision agri-culture recognizes the great spatial variabilitythat farmers and superintendents must dealwith when managing a site and illustrates why

management must be based on educated, site-specific decisions.

Establishment of BMPsThe first federal initiative using the term

"best management practices" came from the1977 amendment to the Clean Water Act,which established BMPs as soil conservationpractices to protect water quality (12). TheBMPs focused on a holistic approach similarto IPM, but included concern for pesticides,nutrients and sediments as related to water-quality protection.

In recent years, the terminology and conceptof BMPs has expanded into the area of waterconservation (4,9,10) and are now used in ordi-nances, regulations and management manualsto deal with a wide variety of water-qualityissues, such as pesticide use and fate, nutrientuse and fate, sediment control from wind andwater erosion and wetlands protection (9). Theterminology and concept ofBMPs likely will beused for an array of environmental issues otherthan water quality within the turfgrass industryand the regulatory arena.

SuccessfULenvironmental stewardshipAlthough IPM (pesticides) and sustainable

agriculture (soil-quality) efforts tend to havea somewhat different focus than the BMPs

IGCM 83

June 2005

RESEARCH

Figure 5. A well-designed irrigation system combined with good scheduling practices can conserve water while main-taining acceptable turf.

Robert N. Carrow, Ph.D., is a professor and turfgrassphysiOlogist at the University of Georgia, Griffin. Ron R.Duncan, Ph.D., is vice president of Turf Ecosystems LLC,San Antonio, Texas, and a retired professor from theUniversity of Georgia. Carrow and Duncan were instruc-tors at GCSAA's2005 Education Conference in Orlando.David Wienecke, M.S., CPAg, is director of golf coursemaintenance at Braemar County Club, Tarzana, Calif.

4. CUWCC. 2005. Memorandum of understandingregarding urban water conservation in California.Amended 2004. www.cuwcc.org (verifiedApril 2, 2005).

5. Deletic, A. 2004. Modeling of water and sedimenttransport over grassed areas. Journal of Hydrology248:168-192.

6. Environmental Literacy Council. 2005. About us.Whatis environmental literacy? www.enviroliteracy.org(verified April 2, 2005).

7. Firewise. 2005. Firewise landscaping. www.firewise.org (verified April 2, 2005).

8. Gibeault, VA 2002. Turf protects the environment,benefits health. UCRTRAC Newsletter, December2002. University of California, Riverside.

9. GreenCOand Wright Water Engineers Inc. 2004. Greenindustry best management practices (BMPs) for theconservation and protection of water resources inColorado. Second release. GreenCO, Denver, Colo.www.greenco.org (verified April 2, 2005).

10. The Irrigation Association. 2005. Turf and landscapeirrigation best management practices. Online publi-cation. September 2004. www.irrigation.org (verifiedApril 2, 2005).

11. Muckel, G.B.2004. Understanding soil risks and haz-ards. USDAonline publication. http://soils.usda.gov/use/risks.html (verified April 5, 2005).

12. Rawson, J.M. 1995. Congressional Research ServiceReport to Congress: Sustainable agriculture. CRCReport for Congress, 95-1062 ENRD.CongressionalResearch Service, Committee for the NationalInstitute for the Environment, Washington, D.C.www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRSreports/Agriculture/ag-14.cfm?&CFID=962773&CFTOKEN= 76886153(verified April 5, 2005).

support the BMPs philosophy for protectionof water quality, so it seems they would alsosupport BMPs for turfgrass water conservationand other environmental issues. Therefore, weencourage the golf course industry to vigor-ously adopt and foster the BMPs approach toall environmental challenges, including waterconservation, and to use the BMPs terminol-ogy, which is already understood and used formany environmental issues.

literature cited1. Beard, J.B., and R.L. Green. 1994. The role of turf-

grasses in environmental protection and their ben-efits to humans. Journal of Environmental Quality23:452-460.

2. Carrow, R.N. 2004. Can we maintain turf to cus-tomers' satisfaction with less water? Proceedings4th International Crop Science Congress, Sept. 26-Oct. 1, 2004. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

3. Cathey, H.M. 2003. Water right - Conserving ourwater, preserving our environment. International TurfProducers Foundation. www.turfgrasssod.org (veri-fied April 2, 2005).

~ Natural resources will be protected, and environmental crises such as drought willbe addressed, either through rigid regulations or implementation of best managementpractices.

~ Environmental stewardship will become an intrinsic part of the golf industry.~ Rigid regulations are driven by politics and can result in extreme measures that may

cause more harm than good.~ Best management practices offer a science-based, whole-systems approach to

conservation and environmental protection.~ The golf industry should adopt and promote the BMPs approach to the environmen-

tal challenges it faces in order to protect the environment and preserve and promotethe industry.

UlEJlESEAR.CHI~ _lsays ...

(water quality and quantity), they all have cer-tain characteristics essential to successfulenvironmental stewardship (6).• Based on science. All BMPs are based on sci-

ence and require that inputs be applied onlywhere they are needed, when necessary andonly at the quantity required. Theseapproaches can be documented, andaccountability can be monitored.Holistic or based on whole systems. Becausewe work within whole ecosystems, no sin-gle answer or narrow strategy solves a spe-cific environmental problem and alsoachieves successful stewardship.Holistic - comiders all stakeholders and theeffects ofpotential environmental actiom. Forexample, water conservation programsshould consider their effects on the econ-omy, the environment, jobs and site use. Thecustomer or user!manager! owner of a turfsite is not the only one potentially affected bywater conservation measures (1,2,8).Educated site-specific adjustments. No singlefactor will achieve maximum environmentalbenefits on a site, and because each site is dif-ferent, adjustments must be site-specific.Adjustments within the whole ecosystem arethe basis of BMPs, and educated decision-making is important. BMPs encourage pro-fessionalism and education, includingcontinuing education, of the superintendent.Development and implementation of newtechnology and concepts. BMPs encourageongoing improvement in technology,plants, concepts and products to achievethe best practices; guideline templates canbe developed and updated over time.

ConclusionRegulatory agencies and environmentalists

84 GeM I June 2005