The Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. property spent about $200,000 for the conversion that its municipal water district says will eventually pay for itself, because of the lower cost vs. drinking water. Previously, 96 percent of the club’s 83-acre course was irrigated with potable water.
With drastic state-mandated water-use cutbacks looming for California, The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. switched over to a recycled water system on April 30, KPBS of San Diego reports. The conversion, which was marked with a “valve-turning” ceremony that included club officials and those from the local municipal water district, is expected to save millions of gallons of drinking water as The Farms irrigates its greens and fairways, KPBS reported.
Until the switch, KPBS reported, 96 percent of The Farms’ 83-acre course was irrigated with potable water, according to the Olivenhein Municipal Water District (OMWD).
While the club spent about $200,000 on the conversion, KPBS reported, the costs will eventually be recovered because recycled water is less expensive than drinking water, according to the district .
“As California regulators consider mandating specific reductions in potable water use, the timing for this conversion could not have been better,” said Kimberly Thorner, the OMWD’s General Manager, at the valve-turning ceremony, KPBS reported. “OMWD has been committed to reducing our reliance on imported water, and this is yet another step toward fulfilling that goal.”
California’s State Water Resources Control Board is determining specific cutback levels for water agencies across California because of the continuing drought, in order to meet Gov. Jerry Brown’s demand for an overall 25 percent reduction; those restrictions could be finalized at meetings on May 5 and 6, KPBS reported.
About 12 percent of golf courses nationwide are irrigated with reclaimed water, KPBS reported, including some in San Diego County, according to the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.
OMWD delivers water to seven golf courses, and five get recycled water, KPBS reported, with The Farms GC joining The Del Mar Country Club, Fairbanks Ranch Country Club, Morgan Run Resort and Club, The Crosby National Golf Club and Rancho Santa Fe Golf Course in making the conversion. A sixth course is close to converting, according to the district, but the Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe is likely five years away from converting, Thorner said, due to that property’s distance from a recycled water source.
In additional reporting on The Farms’ conversion, The Coast News of Encinitas, Calif. reported that the property’s use of drinking water was the equivalent of what 500 families need for a year.
To “go purple” and use the recycled water that runs through pipes of that color (so they can be easily distinguished from potable water lines), The Coast News reported that The Farms’ expenditure of $200,000 was combined with $50,000 spent by OMWD, to build a link to the district’s recycled water pipeline in a process that took about seven years to complete.
“It was quite the arduous process,” Troy Mullane, The Farms’ course superintendent, told The Coast News. “There was a lot of coordination between a lot of entities; the course, the water district, the county and the [homeowners associations]. It was challenging, but in the end, it is very rewarding.”
The recycled water will have a potential residual effect of decreasing the course’s fertilization needs, due to the water’s higher nitrate levels, Mullane told The Coast News. “It’s an improved water source for us,” he said.
Before the conversion, The Coast News reported, The Farms GC would use about 214-acre feet—or 70 million gallons—of water per year in irrigation from a reservoir just north of the course. An acre-foot of water can satisfy two-and-a-half families’ drinking water needs for a year, Thorner said.
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