Best Management Practices for Turfgrass Water Conservation
	Prepared By:
	The University of Georgia and GCSAA
	Content Provided By:
	Bob Carrow and Clint Waltz, University of Georgia and Ronny Duncan, Turf Ecosystems

PURPOSES

The purposes of this document are:

• To foster development and implementation of site-specific water conservation plans on golf courses and other turf areas based on the Best Management Practices (BMPs) approach
• To foster the adoption of the BMP approach to water conservation by regulatory agencies.

APPROACH

Our approach to fostering adoption of the BMPs approach to water conservation within the regulatory arena and at the individual (site-specific) golf course level is to provide comprehensive, "template", educational material in multimedia formats. The education information is available through the GCSAA BMP water conservation program designed as a cooperative program where:

• GCSAA provides the educational/media/organizational framework to develop and foster the BMP philosophy,
• University scientists develop the comprehensive educational material in multimedia formats---i.e. the template information,
• State or regional turf associations, with guidance from individuals within their region who already are involved in water issues, then take the basic template material and foster adoption within their region with adjustments suitable to the specific location.

As part of the benefit of taking the formal BMP course, participants were given permission to use the copyrighted workbook material, including a Word CD of the document as well as a hardcopy, for development of site-specific BMP as well as regulatory BMPs. This fifty-three page document is a detailed "template" explaining all BMP options for water conservation on golf courses. Associations that wish to adopt this approach can obtain the copyrighted BMP workbook by having a lead individual from the organization to sign up for the GCSAA program---on-line W.A.T.E.R. (Water-Atmospheric-Turfgrass-Edaphic (soil)-Relations) course and the Golf Course Water Conservation BMPS Workshop.

Acknowledgements: Materials in Appendix A are provided by: David L. Wienecke, USGA Agronomists, Southwest Region Santa Ana, CA; and Frank Siple and Mark Esoda ---Certified Golf Course Superintendent Lanier Golf Club (Cumming, GA) and Certified Golf Course Superintendent Atlanta Golf Club (Atlanta, GA), respectively. These individuals were charter participants of the first BMPs workshop and added these contributions to this revised edition.