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Presented in partnership YOUR ENVIRONMENT
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The challenges of runoff
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Editor’s note: Inside Your Environment periodically presents information being featured or archived on The Environmental Institute for Golf Web site. For more about this month’s topic, visit
www.eifg.org.
Norman Cousins, the noted American journalist and author, is credited with saying “wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences.” But even Cousins would probably forgive the folks who were building golf courses at the turn of the century for not foreseeing what the future would hold when it comes to stormwater runoff.
Courses being constructed today have many environmentally friendly means at their disposal to deal with drainage, whether the water originates on the course itself or comes from nearby developments. But because golf course builders and designers 100 years ago had no way to predict the growth of such impervious surfaces like rooftops, parking lots and streets, older courses today find themselves prone to flooding by surface runoff and increased water volumes through streams and drainage channels. In many cases, the increased water causes loss of income, property damage and, if the water doesn’t filter through vegetation properly, a nonpoint source of pollution.
When a golf course like the 100-year-old Aurora (Ill.) Country Club (pictured, right) decides to tackle its drainage issues, it calls upon professionals like golf course architects, superintendents and/or environmental consultants with golf course experience to resolve this problem in an environmentally friendly fashion. Today’s bio-techniques for controlling stormwater can be adapted to golf courses and include construction of wetlands, bio-swales, rain gardens, green rooftops or ponds for irrigation.
Gregory E. Martin of Martin Design Partnership helped to design such a drainage system at Aurora Country Club with its superintendent, John Gurke, CGCS, as part of the club’s master plan. In their case study, “Improving Drainage and Water Quality,” featured this month in Green Links at www.eifg.org, Martin and Gurke explain that drainage issues on the course have long been a concern for the club.
“Stormwater management had been a growing concern for Aurora Country Club,” they wrote. “Surface runoff from the surrounding neighborhoods drains onto the golf course. Additional recent development on adjacent properties had placed further pressure on this open space after rain events. The impacts of rain events had risen steadily each year due to surrounding development, intensity of the rain events, and the drainage infrastructure’s limited capacity to handle the water flow and volume.”
The course underwent changes in anticipation of celebrating its 100th anniversary and made environmentally sound improvements, including the construction of a wetland to contain a filter stormwater runoff.
Whidbey Golf and Country Club in Oak Harbor, Wash., also found opportunity in its drainage problems. Kurt Noonan, CGCS, wrote in his case study, “Stormwater Retention for Golf Course Irrigation,” also featured on the Web site, that “all in all, WGCC had a unique opportunity to store and utilize stormwater runoff to meet its irrigation needs.” This case study provides one example of using stormwater generated by development adjacent to the golf course as an irrigation source and means of protecting the environment as well as the course features.
With the environment a concern of nearly every industry imaginable today, a renewed emphasis has been placed on both voluntary and mandatory recycling. New technology has given many former waste products a second chance. GCSAA supports the recycling effort and encourages its members to conserve and recycle. Here are some environmental exercises for superintendents to practice whenever possible: Golf courses that conjoin with drinking water and wastewater capacities can save energy and reduce their carbon footprints with new, expanded tools from the EPA’s Energy Star Program. The agency’s tool for commercial facilities now allows users to track energy use and associated carbon emissions, set targets for investment priorities and verify efficiency improvements. The EPA says that improving energy efficiency of the drinking water and wastewater systems in the U.S. by 10 percent could save more than 5 billion kilowatt-hours each year, representing a cost savings of $400 million annually. Energy Star is a voluntary, market-based partnership aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. To learn more, visit www.energystar.gov/waterwastewater. |
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