how much water does the u.s use per year to water golf course

by Theron Rempel 6 min read

Using water use data nationally, an 18-hole golf course uses an average of 152.5 acre-feet of water per year to irrigate 80.7 acres of turfgrass.

How much water does a golf course use per day?

Apr 11, 2016 · Golf courses in cooler climates and high rainfall can use less that 1 acre-foot of water per acre each year. (One acre-foot of water is the amount of water covering a one-acre area - roughly one football field - to a depth of one foot, which is equal to 325,851 gallons.) Golf courses in hot, dry climates may require as much as 6 acre-feet of water per acre per year. The …

How much water can you withdraw from an irrigated golf course?

water use for golf course irrigation in the U.S. was estimated to be 2,312,701 acrefeet per year. That equates to approximately 2.08 billion gallons of water per day for golf course irrigation in the U.S. According to the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000” report, approximately 408 billion

What are the biggest costs to golf courses?

Mar 11, 2019 · A typical growing season in my area (Dayton, Ohio) will create a need for about 6.17 inches or 168,000 gallons per acre. Course size varies, but consider a course with 130 irrigated acres and you have a total water need around 21 million gallons. If the year has more beneficial rain events, the irrigation water use declines drastically.

Do you need a permit to irrigate a golf course?

to be 2,312,701 acrefeet per year. That equates to approximately 2.08 billion gallons of water per day for golf course irrigation in the U.S. According to the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000” report, approximately 408 billion gallons of water per day are withdrawn in the U.S.

How much water do golf courses use in America?

Audubon International estimates that the average American course uses 312,000 gallons per day. In a place like Palm Springs, where 57 golf courses challenge the desert, each course eats up a million gallons a day.Jun 11, 2008

How much water is used on golf courses each year?

90 million gallonsIn California, an average 18-hole golf course sprawls over 110 to 115 acres and conservatively uses almost 90 million gallons of water per year, enough to fill 136 Olympic-size swimming pools, said Mike Huck, a water management consultant who works with golf courses statewide.

How many gallons of water does it take to maintain a golf course?

A typical 150-acre golf course uses approximately 200 million gallons of water a year, enough to supply 1,800 residences with 300 GPD of water.Mar 29, 2021

Do golf courses use a lot of water?

Water use varies significantly by agronomic region. An average 18-hole golf facility in the Southwest region uses an average of 4 acre-feet of water per irrigated acre per year. An average 18-hole golf facility in the Northeast region uses an average of 0.8 acre-feet of water per irrigated acre per year.

What percentage of water do golf courses use?

Golf, he said, consumes less than 1% of all water used in California, but nearly 25% of Coachella Valley water.Oct 9, 2021

How much water does a golf course use every day?

Courses around the U.S. suck up around approximately 2.08 billion gallons of water per day for irrigation. That's about 130,000 gallons per day per course, according to the golf industry.Jun 18, 2015

Why do golf courses drink water everyday?

Typically, putting greens are irrigated at night or early in the morning. However, during periods of hot weather or low humidity, turf may need additional water throughout the day because soils can quickly dry out. Light watering during the day helps keep putting greens healthy and playing well.Jun 16, 2017

How often do you water a golf course?

A healthy, high-quality turf may need up to 1¾ inches of water per week to keep it growing vigor- ously under hot, dry, windy summer conditions. This total water requirement includes both rainfall and irrigation. Turfgrass will require much less water when the weather is cool or cloudy.

How much water does an 18 hole golf course use?

Depending on the location of the golf course and the climate, an 18-hole course can use on average 2.08 billion gallons of water per day. Depending on the amount of water needed, a typical golf course can spend between $7,000 and $108,000 per year. However, many courses use various methods to water their turfgrass spaces to help limit their need ...

Why do wet agents help irrigation?

Wetting agents are used by many courses to help the irrigation process. The agent is sent along the pipes with the water to lower the surface tension. This allows the water to pass easily through the soil and spread further.

Why are sensors placed in soil?

Sensors are placed in the soil to measure how much moisture is present. This can greatly help with management of the course as only the areas that need water can be irrigated.

Do golf courses use water?

Many countries have now imposed water restrictions on all of the businesses and farms that use water and limited the amount they can use in a year. Golf courses have a two-fold use for water. The first and greatest use is on the maintained turfgrass.

What are the factors that affect the water availability of a golf course?

These factors can be climate, type of turf grass, agronomic and soils conditions, regulations, and water av ailability.

Why does water use vary?

Each course will vary because of size of the irrigated area and management practices. Also, water use each year will vary depending on climatic conditions. The timing and amount of rainfall, temperatures each month, and sunshine. There is no fixed answer.

How many golf courses are there in Las Vegas?

There aren’t even any cactus, just desert scrub like creosote, plus some cholla and Joshua trees. These contrasts clash on the Las Vegas area’s 56 golf courses, according to a recent count. A sizable percentage of the tens of millions of annual visitors to Las Vegas come here primarily to play golf on some of the finest courses in the country.

How much rain does Las Vegas get?

Las Vegas is the driest city of the 280 largest cities in the U.S. In an average year, it receives all of 4.5 inches of rain. (Phoenix gets twice as much.) In addition, the temperature ranges are fairly extreme for a desert, upwards of a 110-degree swing, with average lows in the 30s in December and January.

What was the boom years of the 90s?

In the boom years of the ’90s, water was plentiful, desert acreage was cheap, and dozens of golf courses were built. In those days, the only question for developers was how much dynamite they had and how big their bulldozers were.

How much water does a golf course use?

Courses around the U.S. suck up around approximately 2.08 billion gallons of water per day for irrigation. That’s about 130,000 gallons per day per course, according to the golf industry.

How many golf courses are there in California?

Since there are about 1,140 golf courses in California, reducing water use by one quarter would reduce consumption by 37 million gallons of water per day -- about a million bathtubs full. The golf industry uses a substantial amount of water and is therefore working on ways to make courses more sustainable, with new irrigation technologies, ...

Why are golf courses important?

When it comes down to it, golfers just love the game -- and the green. "I think golf courses are important because they provide an open area of green space ," said Huck.

What is Toro irrigation system?

Toro makes a system that automates all the watering from the sprinklers, down to one-second increments. In addition, wireless soil probes give information on soil moisture, salinity and temperature, which is important because fertilizers impact grass differently at different temperatures.

Does Bermuda grass need less water?

The USGA's green section is also working to make the traditional grasses, including Bermuda, use less water. Oklahoma State University and Texas A&M University have demonstrated that Bermuda grass can survive on just 60 percent of estimated ET during the summer.

What grass is used in golf courses?

While courses traditionally use Bermuda grasses – a popular, fast-growing, and tough turf option -- the United States Golf Association (USGA) has been working for decades to breed and cultivate salt-tolerant grasses, including the inland saltgrass and seashore paspalum.

Can golf courses be sanctuaries?

Golf courses could be sanctuaries for wildlife. A 2009 study published in USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online showed that 70 percent of golf course land wasn’t being actively used, and could be managed to increase amphibian, bird and other wildlife populations.

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Where Is The Water used?

Cost and Amount of Water Used

  • Water is one of the biggest costs to golf courses, and this is another reason why many have tried to save as much water as possible. Depending on the location of the golf course and the climate, an 18-hole course can use on average 2.08 billion gallons of water per day. Depending on the amount of water needed, a typical golf course can spend betwee...
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Types of Water Used

  • To help maintain the turfgrass, courses use a number of different sources for their water needs. These include:
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How Can Golf Courses Save Water?

  • Water conservation is always high on the agenda for golf courses, and there has been a lot of research on how they can effectively use less water. Here are a few of the ways that courses try to use less water.
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Conclusion

  • Golf is one of the most popular outdoor sports for professional and amateur players. This means golf courses will always need to be at the top of their game to ensure that their clubs are ready to meet the demands of players and water conservation. Head here for our range of golf course irrigation systems.
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