Off the Record: Cleaning out the storage unit
I retired from the USGA a little more than five years ago. Time has passed quickly, and I still have not cleaned out my storage unit, which is filled with research reports, books, records and miscellaneous stuff collected over the years.
Whenever the topic of fertilization comes up, I think more about the environmental impacts on water quality, probably because that subject dominated USGA research in the ‘90s and early 2000s.
In 2008, the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) released a special publication titled Water Quality and Quantity Issues for Turfgrasses in Urban Landscapes, the culmination of discussions and presentations from a three-day, CAST-sponsored workshop held in Las Vegas.
The proceedings, presented as a hardcover book with a 16-page full-color inset and executive summary, comprise 16 presentations from 25 water, turf and landscape specialists.
Turfgrasses used in urban areas impact Americans daily in many ways. There are an estimated 50 million acres of maintained turfgrass in the United States on home lawns, golf courses, sports fields, parks, playgrounds, cemeteries and highway rights-of-way.
The 25 presenters maintained that turfgrass provides environmental and human benefits, including decreased runoff from storm events, erosion and air pollution control, heat dissipation, recreation and business opportunities and enhanced property values.
Critics, however, suggest that turfgrasses in landscapes use extensive amounts of water, require excessive or unnecessary fertilizers and pesticides, disturb existing land use patterns and waste time, money and resources.
CAST provided an opportunity and contribution to the continuing discussion on the environmental impact of turfgrass, particularly golf courses.
Topics covered in the new CAST publication include:
- The pending water crisis
- Low-precipitation landscapes
- Regulatory considerations
- Municipal policies
- Turfgrass and the environment
- Ground and surface water
- Plant selection
- Turfgrass water use
- Cultural practices
- Achieving efficient irrigation
- Recycled water
- Public Policy approaches
- Comprehensive assessment
When the USGA was doing some house cleaning at the Liberty Corner headquarters, I was asked if I wanted the remaining cases of books. So, here we are more than 16 years later, and I still have three boxes of books.
If you want a copy of Water Quality and Quantity Issues for Turfgrasses in Urban Landscapes, please email me (which you can find below). I would hate to throw the books away and would like them to end up on a golf course superintendent’s or turfgrass scientist’s bookshelf.
Note: CAST is an international consortium of scientific and professional societies. It assembles, interprets and communicates credible science-based information regionally, nationally and internationally to legislators, regulators, policymakers, the media, the private sector and the public.
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