Documenting Trends in Water Use and Conservation Practices on U.S. Golf Courses

Abstract

Since an initial survey was conducted in 2006, U.S. golf courses have reduced their water use by 21.8%, from a projected 2.379 million acre‐feet/year to 1.859 million acre‐feet of water per year. Factors contributing to this decrease include voluntary reductions in number of irrigated acres, reductions in number of golf facilities, and water conservation practices. These practices allowed U.S. golf courses to use less water than predicted by reference evapotranspiration (ETo) values. There is dramatic regional variation in water use patterns across the United States. The median amount of water used by an 18‐hole golf course was highest in the Southwest (3.87 acre‐feet/acre per year) and lowest in the Transition zone (cool‐ to warm‐season grass adaption areas) (0.60 acre‐feet/acre per year), and water use ranged from no irrigation to >9 acre‐feet/acre per year on a course‐by‐course basis. Regional variation was most heavily influenced by climate, due to the broad range of ETo and precipitation values among the study's seven agronomic regions. Recycled water use has increased to approximately 25% of all water used on golf courses in 2013, from 14.7% in 2005. Future decreases in golf course water use will likely depend on further development of water budgeting and water management plans, adoption of monitoring technology, improved irrigation efficiency, and further reductions in irrigated acreages.