The Florida community’s voluntary Golf Course Nutrient and Lake Management program has prompted area courses to implement 13 practices through training personnel, lake management, fertilizer management and irrigation, including no-mow zones at the edge of lakes, raking algae out of lakes and installing filter drains.
Sanibel Natural Resources director James Evans said golf courses in Sanibel Island, Fla., have made tremendous improvements toward complying with the city’s Golf Course Nutrient and Lake Management program, the Sanibel-Captiva Islander reported.
“Two of the three courses now score high enough to be considered in full compliance,” said Evans. “All three have made progress in implementing the city’s recommendations.”
The city adopted its nutrient and lake management practices for golf courses in October 2008. The courses work with the city natural resources staff on a voluntary basis on implementing 13 practices through training personnel, lake management, fertilizer management and irrigation. The 13 practices include no-mow zones at the edge of lakes, raking algae out of lakes and installing filter drains, among other things, the Islander reported.
“The Sanctuary [Golf Club] did a great job last year,” said Evans. “They have gone above and beyond our recommendations. There have been no fish kills at [The Dunes Golf & Tennis Club], and the water clarity in the lakes is visibly improved.”
The Sanctuary scored 63 out of 65 points from the list of 13 practices, putting it in the 97-percent compliance range, an improvement of six percent over last year. The Dunes Golf & Tennis Club scored 59 out of 65 points to reach 91 percent compliance, an improvement of 28 percent over last year, the Islander reported.
Beachview Golf Club showed 12 percent improvement, resulting in 69 percent compliance.
“They still need to do some work on improving buffer zones,” said Evans. “They have done a good job [of buffering] along the Sanibel River, but there is still some low-hanging fruit [and] some low-cost or no-cost practices they can [still] do.”
Some residents are putting pressure on homeowners associations to follow the same water-quality improvement practices on common lakes, the Islander reported.
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