The club is not only complying with the city’s water restrictions, but uses non-potable water for irrigation with an automated system, as well as an on-site weather station.
When water is scarce, and conservation necessary, one of the first places to look to trim the fat would reasonably be local golf courses, but the Redlands (Calif.) Country Club is ahead of the game, the Redlands Daily Facts reported.
The club is complying with the city’s current water restrictions, and has also been thinking ahead when it comes to water conservation for several years. With the combination of the current equipment, proactive attitude, and attention to detail when it comes to water conservation, the club says it is a role model for other businesses and organizations in the area, the Daily Facts reported.
“We’re being thoughtful about how we’re using water, and our members are, I think, very aware,” said board member and former mayor Carole Beswick, who also served 11 years on the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, and is also a former club president.
Richard Ray, the club’s certified superintendent, says that they primarily water at night, which is in compliance with the city’s restricted watering times (noon to eight p.m.). The club is also exempt from the other restrictions concerning golf courses, since they use all non-potable water for irrigation, which comes from the property’s lake, the Daily Facts reported.
“We used to be 100 percent potable water, until September 2005, so we’ve been kind of ahead of the curve, fortunately,” said Ray.
Irrigation is computerized and completely automated, giving Ray complete control of the system from anywhere. Ray says they also have an on-site weather station, which has been in place for 22 years. The station allows him to constantly monitor the irrigation system and fix leaks as they happen, the Daily Facts reported.
“It basically tells me how much water I’ve lost during the day and how much I need to replace at night, which saves thousands of gallons of water. We tend not to over water, and that’s been in place for 22 years,” said Ray.
Ray is assisted by a full-time irrigator, who is responsible for preventive maintenance and according to Ray, as a result, they rarely have leaks, the Daily Facts reported.
General manager/chief operating officer Kurt Burmiester said they try not to oversaturate the golf course because, “golfers like a dry golf course.”
In addition, they do not irrigate when it’s raining, which also saves money and water. Ray said that after the rainfall at the beginning of the month, the club saved 1.5 million gallons of water because they didn’t have to irrigate for four days, the Daily Facts reported.
Ray said they have replaced their sprinkler-heads with high-efficiency nozzles, in addition to installing drip systems in the last several years. “More and more we’re trying to be as strategic as possible with our irrigation,” said Beswick.
The club’s restaurant has already instated a water-upon-request-only policy, Burmiester said, which complies with the city’s new restrictions. They also did a remodel of clubhouse bathrooms a couple of years ago and installed higher efficiency toilets in their continued effort to save water, the Daily Facts reported.
It helps to be in an area that doesn’t have to rely on state water, and has a lot of water-conservation regulations already in place, Beswick said, in addition to partnerships with local water agencies. “We have a deal with the city of Big Bear Lake, that they get the surface, but we own the water, and we have a deal where we won’t take it down to a place where it doesn’t support their economy,” said Beswick.
The city also does water exchanges, de-brines much of the Santa Ana River’s water for continued use, and utilizes the area’s ground water. And like the city, the Redlands Country Club is constantly looking for ways to save water and make their systems more efficient, especially in drought conditions, the Daily Facts reported.
“We (Redlands) really are ahead of the curve, and are sort of a poster child for other parts of the state, because we’ve had progressive thinkers here,” said Beswick. “There’s some really innovative stuff going on in the region.”
Overall, Ray is confident that the club will pull through, especially considering its perpetual efforts to save water, the Daily Facts reported.
“I’ve been in this business for about 33 years, and this is the third drought I’ve been through, and it seems to be that we go through the drought, we get real concerned about it, we get a huge rainfall the next year, and it gets forgotten.”
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.