This page contains information on selected topical issues. Current subject areas include water use, water quality, fate of pesticides in the environment, fertilization, and trends in the southern California turfgrass industry, and benefits of turfgrass.
Updated
Feb. 2007
Please
note that some files require the Adobe Acrobat Reader. 
"Cash for Grass" - A Cost Effective Method to Conserve Landscape Water?
Paper addressing whether offering rebates for the conversion of turf to xeriscape is a cost effective and environmentally friendly method to achieve water savings, including examining the effectiveness of several "Cash for Grass" programs.
Article by Sylvan Addink, Ph.D., Certified Professional Agronomist
Background and Evaluation of Weather-sensing Landscape Irrigation Controllers
A summary of a study which used selected weather-sensing irrigation controllers to determine the climatic data the controllers use, how easy they are to setup and operate, and how closely their irrigation regimes match landscape irrigation needs established by previous field research.
Article from the Fall 2004 issue of Co-Hort, a publication which summarizes current research and information on issues related to urban landscapes, turfgrass, and ornamental/floriculture crop production and published by the UC Cooperative Extension Specialists in the UCR Dept. of Botany and Plant Sciences (Donald J. Merhaut and Dennis Pittenger, Editors)
What We Know About Landscape Water Requirements
This article emphasizes the continuing need of research-based information when considering landscape water requirements.
Article from the Spring 2004 issue of Co-Hort, a publication which summarizes current research and information on issues related to urban landscapes, turfgrass, and ornamental/floriculture crop production and published by the UC Cooperative Extension Specialists in the UCR Dept. of Botany and Plant Sciences (Vic Gibeault, Donald J. Merhaut, and Dennis Pittenger, Editors)
Trends in Golf Course Water Use and Regulation in California
A paper that compares an annual water budget based on reference evapotranspiration (ETo) x landscape area (in acre feet) with estimated annual irrigation water use (in acre feet) for hypothetical 18-hole golf courses located in three southern California climates: southern coast marine climate (a golf course located in Irvine); transition climate between marine and desert climates (a golf course located in Riverside); and southern California desert climate (a golf course located in Indio, Palm Springs area).
Best Management Practices for Turfgrass Water Conservation
The purposes of this document developed by the University of Georgia and the GCSAA 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 and to foster the adoption of the BMP approach to water conservation by regulatory agencies.
Additional
information:
California Irrigation
Management Information System (CIMIS) Data
The CIMIS data page
enables users (free of charge) to: view daily and monthly sample reports;
retrieve CIMIS data; read important information on CIMIS quality control;
read detailed information on CIMIS data types, formats, and sizes; and
view the weather station list.
CIMIS
Reference Evapotranspiration (color
picture)
Color map of the 18 ETo zones in California and a table of monthly (and
annual) average reference evapotranspiration by ETo zone (inches/month).
WUCOLS:
Water Use Classification of Landscape Species (Adobe
Acrobat file)
This guide provides
irrigation water needs evaluations for over 1,900 species used in California
landscapes. It
was developed to provide guidance in the selection and maintenance of
plants based on irrigation water needs.
Water-Related
Websites
• California
State Law
• California
Department of Water Resources (CDWR) Information
• California
Urban Water Conservation Council (CUWCC) Information
• Metropolitan
Water District (MWD) of Southern California Information
• Other
California Government and Related Agencies
• Federal
Government Agencies
• Other
Regional or National Associations / Organizations
• United
States Golf Association (USGA) Green Section Information
• Turfgrass
Information Center at Michigan State University
• Water-related
Information at Universities
Surface Water Quality (Runoff)
Landscape
Pesticides and Surface Water Quality
Article from
the Winter 2006 issue of WaterWise which presents a brief overview of a study examining the effect of landscape planting covers on the persistence of
two commonly used landscape herbicides: 2,4-D and dicamba. The study was part of an overall effort to identify strategies for minimizing
pesticide runoff from residential areas to urban streams.
The
Runoff Rundown
The newsletter of the Water Education Foundation,
first published in Spring 2005, which focuses on "how stakeholders
and regulators are using creative strategies to address the challenges
posed by nonpoint source pollution." The newsletter is meant to be
a "forum for sharing real-world experiences that have contributed
to reducing nonpoint source pollution."
TMDLs - A New Approach to Water Quality Regulation
"The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) term refers to a regulatory program, numeric water-quality standards, the process to set those standards, and a new approach to regulating water-quality. The TMDL approach is different from past water-quality regulation because it focuses on improving the quality of a water body rather than limiting the concentration of pollutants coming out of the end of a pipe. Furthermore, the TMDL approach is designed to limit pollution from both point and non-point pollution sources. Finally, the TMDL program's goal of improving the quality of water bodies necessitates a watershed-wide pollution-reduction strategy."
Article from the debut edition (Winter 2003) issue of WaterWise, a quarterly publication addressing water issues published by the UC Cooperative Extension Specialists in the UCR Dept. of Environmental Sciences (Dr. Bo Cutter, Editor)
Additional information
on TMDLs:
USEPA
Grants Final Approval to California's 2002 §303(d) List
Article from the Fall 2003 issue
of WaterWise,
a quarterly publication addressing water issues published by theUC Cooperative
Extension Specialists in the UCR Dept. of Environmental Sciences (Dr.
Bo Cutter, Editor)
Runoff
Water Quality Laws and Their Enforcement in California
Article from the Spring 2003 issue
of Co-Hort, a publication which summarizes
current research and information on issues related to urban landscapes,
turfgrass, and ornamental/floriculture crop production and published by
the UC Cooperative Extension Specialists in the UCR Dept. of Botany and
Plant Sciences (Vic Gibeault, Donald J. Merhaut, and Dennis Pittenger,
Editors)
TMDLs:
A Significant Change in Water Quality Regulation Enforcement
Article from the Winter 2000 issue
of Soil
Water and Irrigation Management, a quarterly publication
of the UCR Department of Environmental Sciences (Dr.
Laosheng Wu, Editor)
American
Water Resources Association – TMDLs: Total Maximum Daily Loads
The part of the 1972 federal Clean Water Act - just beginning to be regulated
- related to non-point sources of contamination to waterways...our neighborhood
urban and rural storm drains.
North
Carolnia State University (NSCU) TurfFiles – Water Quality Publications
Groundwater Quality (Leaching)
Nitrate
Groundwater Pollution Hazard Index
From the UC
Center for Water Resources, the purpose of this index is "to
provide information for farmers to voluntarily target resources for management
practices that will yield the greatest level of reduced nitrogen contamination
potential for groundwater by identifying the fields of highest intrinsic
vulnerability."
Nitrogen
leaching and best management practices for overseeded bermudagrass fairways
Summary report of a study which investigated the effect
of soil type (sandy loam or loamy sand), annual nitrogen-fertility program,
and irrigation amount on nitrate leaching.
Development
of BMPs for fertilizing lawns to optimize plant performance and nitrogen
uptake while reducing the potential for nitrate leaching
Summary report of a
study whose primary goal was to evaluate annual N rate and source on tall
fescue to determine which factor(s) optimize plant performance and N uptake
while reducing the potential for nitrate leaching.
Movement
of Nitrogen Fertilizer in a Turfgrass System
Article from California Turfgrass Culture (Vol. 48, Nos. 1&2,
pages 1-4) discussing the results of a study to monitor the movement of
nitrogen below the root system of cool-season turfgrasses when applied
at high rates and frequent intervals.
Fate of Pesticides in the Environment
Contact
Transfer of Pesticides from Turf: Refocusing Default Assumptions on Reality
Article from Better Turf Thru Agronomics (December
1999, pages 1-2) that discusses the need for the turf industry to be aggressive
in determining the levels of human exposure of chemicals from turf, or
face being regulated by unvalidated default assumptions made by regulators
with little, if any, information or familiarity with turfgrass.
Further
Evaluation and Modeling of Pesticide Partitioning Data from the UCR Putting
Green Lysimeters
The
objectives of this study were to measure site-specific critical water
flow and pesticide transformation and to simulate
pesticide fate of two fungicides and two insecticides using measured hydraulic
properties and pesticide parameters as model inputs and to compare model
outcomes of the simulations with measured field data.
Additional information:
PesticideWise Search Engine
Search engine which includes a comprehensive EPA-USDA database and presents
critical information on a pesticide's properties and water quality risks.
USGA
Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online
An electronic technical journal published by the USGA and housed with
the Turfgrass Information File (TGIF) at the Michigan State University
Libraries. It reports the results of research projects funded under USGA's
Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program.
Turfgrass Fertilizers and Fertility Programs for Tall Fescue
Slide Presentation (best viewed in Internet Explorer) or Adobe Acrobat PDF file
General information regarding feritilizer types and fertility programs for managing tall fescue.
Trends in the Southern California Turfgrass Industry
Economic Impacts of Environmental Horticulture in California, South Carolina, and the U.S.
ABSTRACT: Information about the economic impacts of environmental horticulture is important for better government and business decision-making. Californians spent $8.52 billion on marketed and in-house environmental horticulture, managed at least 1.37 million acres of horticultural landscapes, and generated $10.1 billion of related sales in 1995. These sales directly supported 128,842 jobs. According to preliminary estimates, golf course superintendents and their staffs spent $864 million and worked 14,210 full-time-equivalent jobs to care for 145,386 acres of landscapes at golf courses in 2000. The area of facilities with golf courses and real spending to care for these landscapes both grew 2.1% per year during 1995-2000. Employment in golf course maintenance grew 1.1% per year during the same period. In South Carolina, retail sales of marketed goods and services for environmental horticulture grew from $513 million in 1994 to $948.5 million in 1999. Adjusted for inflation, these sales increased 10.6% per year. Employment associated with the production and sale of these products grew from 18,478 full-time equivalent jobs in 1994 to 24,710 in 1999, or 6.0% during the period. Although the direct economic impacts are larger in California than South Carolina, they are larger relative to traditional agriculture in the Palmetto state than the Golden state. The greater relative importance of environmental horticulture in the farm economy of the Palmetto state coincides with the greater proportion of land that South Carolinians have converted land into residential and commercial real estate. In the U.S., retail expenditures on marketed goods and services of this industry were $54.8 billion in 1998. Estimates of expenditures and sales associated with not only marketed but also in-house environmental horticulture at the end-user level were $93.5 billion and $92.9 billion in 1995 for the U.S. Adjusted for inflation but not for any economic or demographic growth, these estimates would have been $103.7 billion and $103.0 billion in 2001. Researchers should focus on not only estimation of economic impacts but also analysis of the behavioral determinants of these impacts.
Original source: Templeton, S. 2002. Economic Impacts of Environmental Horticulture in California, South Carolina, and the U. S. Tim D. Davis and Victor A. Gibeault (eds.), Proceedings of the Symposium on Urban Agriculture: Emerging Opportunities in Science, Education, and Policy, pgs. 117-124.
Economic
Impacts of California’s Golf Course Facilities in 2000
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Facilities
with golf courses in California enable people to golf, play other sports,
dine out, and participate in other social activities. People spent $4.350
billion in 2000 at these facilities. These expenditures included $1.679
billion in golf membership dues, green fees, car fees, and related charges,
$963 million for food and beverages, $797 million for lodging, and $250
million for merchandise from on-site golf shops. Golfers played 39.5 million
18-hole equivalent rounds in 2000. Net of imports, expenditures at these
facilities represented $4.251 billion of sales to final demand in the
same year. These 'direct' sales became $2.464 billion in personal income
to Californians. The total sales, income, and tax impacts on the state
economy were $7.872 billion, $4.546 billion, and $1.370 billion in 2000.
Direct sales of $4.251 billion directly supported 62,173 jobs and, through
indirect and induced sales impacts, an additional 37,609 jobs. The direct
sales and jobs impacts in California were almost identical to those in
Florida. The total value-added impact accounted for 0.4% of the California's
gross state product in 2000.
In 2000 superintendents and their staffs spent $824 million and worked the equivalent of 13,799 full-time jobs to care for 113,672 acres of the state's 977 golf courses. Real spending on golf course maintenance increased 0.8% annually and the number of jobs associated with this maintenance increased 0.5% per year during 1995-2000. Superintendents used 340,160 acre-feet of water to irrigate 87,693 acres in 2000. Revenues per acre-foot of applied water and per acre of land were, on average, 8.6 and 6.8 times larger at golf courses than agricultural crop farms.
Survey data were used
to estimate direct impacts of the facilities on sales and jobs. These
estimates are conservative. Indirect and induced impacts on sales and
jobs, all value-added impacts, and all tax impacts were estimated with
the IMPLAN input-output model of California.
A Survey of Professional Turfgrass Managers in Southern California Concerning Their Use of Turfgrass Best Management Practices
Slide Presentation (best viewed in Internet Explorer) or Adobe Acrobat PDF file
ABSTRACT: Turfgrass management best management practices (BMPs) encompass a
wide variety of activities, including fertilization, irrigation, mowing,
pest control, and soil management. Little attention is given to determining
just how effective information regarding BMPs is being assimilated and
used by professional turfgrass managers. The objectives of this study
were to assess the current perception and implementation of selected turfgrass
BMPs and to determine whether or not those perceptions and implementations
differed 1) between turfgrass advisors and managers and 2) between general
and sports turfgrass managers. Professionals from the turfgrass industry,
with an average of 13 years of experience and largely comprised of decisionmakers
(88%), were surveyed at the University of California, Riverside, Turfgrass
Research Conference and Field Day in Fall 1998 and 1999. Turfgrass managers,
especially sports turfgrass managers, were found to be the most committed
to implementing the BMPs in the survey. Overall, survey respondents considered
BMPs to be important and not highly difficult to implement. Limitations
to the adoption of BMPs were a lack of financial backing, employee education,
and necessary time-all of which could be remedied with a sufficient commitment
of resources by the turfgrass industry.
Slide presentation from the 2000 UC Riverside Turfgrass and Landscape Research Conference. Companion article also published in the July-September 2002 issue of HortTechnology (Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 498-504).
Turf
Protects the Environment, Benefits Health
Turfgrass has a direct effect on most California
residents. With over 90% of our population residing in urban or suburban
areas, turfgrasses, along with trees, shrubs, ground covers and flowering
plant material, are an important aspect of "man's planned landscape."
Many recreational facilities depend on a uniform, vigorous, well-maintained
turf sward as the medium of play. Also, turf modifies people's environment
in may positive ways, including reducing discomforting glare, reducing
noise, reducing soil erosion and dust, and modifying high temperatures
by heat dissipation. Lastly, turf alone or in a landscape setting, is
aesthetically pleasing which positively influences our mental and physical
feelings of well-being.
In times of strained budgets and limited resources, it is appropriate to ask the question: "what is the importance of turfgrass to Californians?" It is also appropriate to be very specific about the contributions of turfgrass in our society. This article provides research-based information on the value of turfgrass to people and the environment in which we live.
Additional information
on environmental horticulture urban agriculture:
Proceedings
of the Symposium Urban Agriculture: Emerging Opportunities in Science,
Education and Policy
Proceedings are
available for purchase.
Agriculture has typically
been associated with the production of food and fiber
commodities in rural areas. In the 21st century, agriculture is much broader
than this and includes such diverse items as environmental horticulture,
planning the use of green space, control of insect and rodent pests, wildlife
management, and food production by city dwellers. In an effort to broaden
awareness in this regard, a national symposium was held May 19-22, 2002
in Dallas, Texas. The mission of the symposium, as developed by the Organizing
Committee, was as follows: To define and describe the components and
issues of urban agriculture and examine the common ground and opportunities
that exists between urban and rural communities.
Urban
and Agricultural Communities: Opportunities for Common Ground
Full report available for purchase on the Council
for Agricultural Science and Technology website.
"The changing role of agriculture in urban settings is considered in this comprehensive report written by a twelve-member task force. The report frames "urban agriculture" in both historical and contemporary American society, providing a picture of geographic, demographic, and economic changes in rural and metropolitan life. Policy issues such as land preservation, alternative market opportunities, sprawl, taxation, and food security are considered. Research and educational challenges are presented for consideration by those at institutions of higher education, including land-grant universities."