Water Reduction Plans for PGA WEST

Many parts of the Western United States, and especially California, are in the middle of a drought with no end in sight. Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state drought emergency and is mandating that water districts activate reduction plans immediately with water customers. Both the Desert Water Agency and the Coachella Valley Water District have implemented restrictions on domestic water users with the direction to save 10% of its water use once the restrictions are in place.

Reduction plans in the CVWD consist of the following:

1. Irrigate lawns and other landscaping only after sunset and before 10 a.m., except when overseeding or performing maintenance.

2. Use CVWD drought watering guide to irrigate: www.cvwd.org/conservation/wateringguide.php  

3. Repair broken sprinklers within 24 hours of being notified.

4. Do not wash down driveways, sidewalk and other hardscapes.

5. Wash vehicles and windows only if using a hose with a shutoff nozzle.

6. Prevent runoff onto a neighbor’s property or hardscape such as sidewalks or roads.

7. Fountains or other water features must recirculate water.

8. Restaurants should serve water to customers only upon request.

9. Hotels are being asked to place messages in guest rooms promoting water conservation.

Many of the local HOAs and homeowners are putting in smart irrigation controllers and updated nozzles to help with better water control. However, the largest efforts are coming from turf reduction along many streets and open areas to create water savings for the immediate and future periods.

The goal in the Coachella Valley needs to focus on sustaining the current aquifer and hopefully in the future building up that water level to sustain this beautiful area for years to come. La Quinta Resort, PGA WEST and The Citrus Club realize the severity of the drought situation and have been researching ways to reduce our water usage in the coming months and into next year. Many plans are being implemented over the next few months, some of which will have a more immediate impact than others. We believe the largest impact of these will be a limited overseed on all nine of our courses at PGA WEST, The Citrus Club and Mountain/Dunes. The limited overseed effect will be very similar to what has been seen on the TPC Stadium and two Nicklaus Courses in the past few years as we have only overseeded tees, greens, fairways and a portion of the rough outlining the fairway. To have the greatest effect on overall water savings while still providing high quality playing conditions, this limitation will also include the removal of overseed in the rough areas outside of the fairway and along residential property lines of each Course.

This overseed practice will allow us to cut down on the amount of water needed to grow the overseeded areas as well as reduce the amount of water needed to keep the Ryegrass growing all winter long and into the spring / early summer months. We believe these water usage reductions represent an effective and immediate step to lower our water usage footprint during this difficult time for California.

Other water saving efforts being implemented include the following:

• Leveling irrigation heads throughout the Courses
• Irrigation Audits to look for deficiencies in coverage
• Irrigation nozzle upgrades to improve our coverage
• Consideration and plans for future turf removal / landscape design