This report indicates that golf course superintendents and the golf industry are well positioned to professionally manage and protect water resources in the future. Among the key findings were:

• Golf courses account for one-half of one percent of all water used annually and just one and one half percent of all irrigated water applied.
• Only 14 percent of golf courses utilize water from municipal water systems.
• Superintendents at 18-hole golf facilities utilize numerous methods to conserve water, with the top three tactics being the use of wetting agents (92 percent), hand watering (78 percent), and keeping turf drier than in the past (69 percent).
• Superintendents utilize information from multiple sources as part of their decision to apply water. Most facilities utilize direct observations of turfgrass and soil conditions, with approximately 35 percent routinely utilizing evapotranspiration data.
• Recycled water is used by 12 percent of golf facilities, with 37 percent of facilities in the Southwest Region using this source. More than half (53 percent) said they would use effluent water, however there was not a source of it. Another 13 percent said there was no infrastructure to deliver it from water providers.

In addition to the data, the authors of the article reached a variety of conclusions that would serve to benefit golf facilities and the golf industry. Among those were:

• Golf facilities should continue take advantage of technology as part of the irrigation decision-making process to conserve water. The utilization of data from soil sensors for irrigation scheduling decisions is likely to increase in the future as the equipment becomes more reliable and affordable.
• GCSAA and The Environmental Institute for Golf support working collaboratively with the golf industry, citizens, communities and all levels of government to develop practical public policy related to water issues.
• Golf facilities must pro-actively conserve water. Conserving water on golf facilities is essential to becoming a sustainable business. Optimizing the acreage of irrigated turfgrass, implementing best management practices, utilizing technology to make water application decisions, conducting an irrigation system audit along with an audit of the non-golf course water uses at the entire facility are key to becoming responsible users of water.
• Golf facilities provide a valuable long-term customer for local treatment facilities and turfgrass is an effective biological filter to further treat the water. The golf industry should strive to maximize the use of reclaimed water when the availability, quality, and cost are sustainable for the golf facility and it is practical given the local water resources available.
• Nationally, golf facilities irrigate approximately 80 percent of the maintained turfgrass acres. Golf facilities located in areas of limited water supplies should irrigate only the turfgrass essential for the play of the game.