A disagreeable combination: reclaimed water and Poa annua greens.

by Rich Skyzinski

THE GOALS as projected back in 1986 were noble. With the design and construction of a $33.9 million Wastewater Reclamation Project, the golf courses and a few other recreational facilities in the Pebble Beach, Calif., community would use recycled water, saving the more precious, more expensive potable water for drought reserves and preventing the dumping of effluent water into the Carmel River.

An arduous permitting and approval process required six years, but the project was completed in June 1994 and began operations two months later.

It wasn't soon thereafter, however, that the Poa annua greens at Pebble Beach and the other courses inside the Del Monte Forest began to show signs of stress. The level of salinity in the reclaimed water -- in which higher naturally occurring salt levels are a given -- was nearly three times higher than potable water.

Oddly enough, the recycling process itself contributes to higher levels of salinity in reclaimed water. The amounts differ depending on the number of times a plant "washes" the water -- whether it undergoes a primary, secondary or tertiary treatment.

Local regulations may also impact the final quality of the product. One important consideration is the final use of the water; whether the water is recycled for commercial and industrial use, for instance, or is cleaned and discharged into local waterways, are factors that affect the levels of treatment.

"We've seen a lot more disease on the greens," explained Pebble Beach superintendent Mark Michaud. "Basically it just compounds the problems we already have with high traffic, overplaying, mowing every day and the demand of having fast greens. Greens with Poa are the least tolerant to sodium water, and there's so much sodium in the soil it's been difficult to displace it. But it's something that we prepared for, so it's not totally a big surprise this occurred."

Not every green is affected. Because rules regulating the use of recycled water prohibit its use near residential dwellings, Pebble's 11th green and its two practice putting greens are still irrigated with potable water. The difference is discernable.

"It's noticeable," Michaud said of the difference. "You walk on those greens and they're nice and firm. The others are somewhat soft and mushy. The turf quality is five-fold better on the potable greens."

What compounded the problem even more was the lack of any measurable rainfall -- not a single drop -- from June 6 to Dec. 11. With the greens receiving nothing but recycled water for six months, there was no leaching of the sodium from the soil.

To correct the problem, the reclaimed water has been injected with gypsum, which is lowering the ratio of calcium to sodium to an almost-even 1-to-1. Michaud is also applying a granular calcium carbonate, which allows the sodium to be leached through the soil at a higher rate. Pebble's greens have also been aerified on a monthly basis between March and October.

The greens aren't perfect, but they are improving. "The greens are getting healthier," Michaud said. "We've had to mow them at a higher level, so right now they're a little slower and a bit bumpy, and people come here wanting to play a championship course on championship greens."

The Wastewater Reclamation Project was designed to provide approximately 800 acre-feet of reclaimed water for the irrigation of the seven courses in Pebble Beach as well as the Peter Hay par-3 course, the Pebble Beach practice range, its equestrian center and the athletic fields at the nearby Robert Louis Stevenson School.

Since 1976, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District has experienced mandatory water rationing on two occasions: an 18-month stretch in the mid to late '70s, and a period of 28 months extending from late 1989 into 1991. Thus, Pebble's reclamation project was seen as perhaps the first of such projects that might help prevent future periods of rationing.