Outta' Water : Update #3

We back to full.  One night of rain and the cool temps (both day and night) have been a huge help in getting us caught up.  With no irrigation on the course for the last 2 days and the 10mm of rain Tuesday night we are in pretty good standing.  Timing was good since I was having trouble controlling the leak on our  #1 pump stuffing box.  Optimistically, we should be able to make it even with one pump.

There is sufficient water at our intake and we plan to keep it open for a bit longer to ensure water reaches the outer man hole.  Once we complete work at the river I'll do a follow up post.  Otherwise, river info will be sparse unless things move in a different direction.

In anticipation of Pucksters, maintenance has been geared towards enhancing playing conditions.  After this tournament we will continue with aerating tee's with the hope of finishing before September long weekend.  Once September hits there will be some changes but I'll talk about those in a later posts.  What players need to know is we are in a situation that has pushed up the routine fall maintenance and result the next couple weeks will be a lot of "in your face" maintenance and your understanding will be greatly appreciated.

Otta' Water Update #2

It has officially been 72 hours of non-stop pumping from the river at a whopping rate of approx. 350 GPM.  The irrigation reservoir was down 1.9 million gallons before a constant river supply was re-established on Sunday (FYI : the reservoir total usable capacity it 4 million gallons - small but location more than anything dictated its volume).  It's really a game of catch-up now since a quick math calculation tells you that at 350 GPM for 24 hours the most water we can pump to the reservoir is just over 500 000 gallons.  At that rate it should be easy to re-fill, basically 4 days but don't forget I still need to use around 325 000  to 450 000 gallons of water every night.  So, obviously, the net water gain is somewhere from 175 000 to 50 000 gallons every 24 hours.  Using those numbers the actual time it will take to get back to normal levels it more like 11 to 38 days depending on usage.  My guess is if we are able to run both pumps at the 350 GPM rate the reservoir should be close to full soon after Labour Day weekend.  I am limiting irrigation when and where possible since there is a possibility the river will get so low that we will have to drop to one pump before the end of the watering season and I want to get the reservoir back up to healthy level as soon as possible. 

As referenced in the previous post, I am concerned with the excessive wear on the pump shafts but there really is nothing to that can be done at this time.  Every time I go down to check on the river I check the pumps.  Each time, pump #1 has needed the packing tightened since the wear in the shaft is so bad and water is spewing all over the place.  I keep hoping to reach a point when I've jammed so much packing in the stuffing box that I've filled the cavity surrounding the worn shaft enough to stop the geysers from occurring inside the pump house. 

The disappointment of deliberately letting turf dry out to the point of dormancy is only eclipsed by observing the damage left behind from cart traffic over the heat stressed areas.  I appreciate that most people are focused on their game and may not be aware of the stress the turf is under but there is no way you can stand on 16 tees and not see the impact of traffic on stressed areas of the rough.  For me the simple rule is stay off any turf that is not green.  Pass it around.

O.K. Hole Of the Week is a flop so lets forget it.  I was at a meeting yesterday and another idea one of the speakers mentioned that helped members be involved in their golf course was hosting divot parties.  He would close down a couple holes at night and volunteers would show up and walk the entire hole and fill all divots with sand and seed.  There was a brief post divot party to show appreciation.  Not this year but maybe next?

Outta Water- UPDATE

No pictures since I still haven't found my camera and my family is on vacation and took their camera's with them but if you've golfed this week you probably noticed the water level in the reservoir.  We are down a good six feet from normal and are having only moderate success at getting more.  Turns out "permission" was no big deal.  For the month of August you can do "maintenance of works" without any special request so we went in and dismantled the infiltration gallery and removed the silt and sand that plugs the intake.  I don't think I've ever explained how we are "connected" to the river so here is a quick explanation.  There is no physical connection, instead there is a large jumble of boulders that separate the river from an external wet well made of perforated concrete barrels that contains a large pipe which supplies water to the internal wet well.  From there the river pumps draw water up to the reservoir.  During initial construction we established a grade based on the historical low water level in the river.  In theory as long as there was some water in the river there would be water in the well.  That is true but the part that the individual who was consulting for KGC during construction did think about was the rate at which that water would flow into the external wet well at low water.  The elevation we are pumping to, the size of the pipe,  and the volume required to keep up with the irrigation demands all contribute to establishing a range of psi and flow that the river pumps need to operate in.  Unfortunately, that range is greater than the passive flow of water into the wet well at low water and, as a result, we are unable to pump sufficient water to the reservoir - which is the whole problem.
Even though we've removed the "plug" there is still problems.  Because we are stirring up the intake some small debris is making its way into the river pump house and plugging the screens which leads to decreasing discharge psi and ultimately a fault which shuts down the pump house.  Another kick in the *ss today was the conformation that the dirty run off has worn the shafts on both river pumps.  I need to check on tolerances but last time we had this it was $15 000 rebuild.  All part of pumping from a river but we need to look at ways to lessen the problems and that may mean developing a well at the cost of any where from $40 000 to $60 000.  It just keeps coming........

"HOLE OF THE WEEK"....hmmm maybe people need more time.  In an effort to lead the way I've ask my staff to pull some knapweed on the bank below the driving range fence next to 5 fairway to show how to do it.  We're pulling 50 plants a day during our morning jobs and it is only adding 3 to 5 minutes to the morning job.  What if everyone only pulled 10 plants.......... imagine...... This may also not be what people are looking for to "help" but lets give is more time and see.

Outta water

A bit of a disappointment based on the volume in the river :

August 12

but looking back to last year it is not a surprise.  I was able to contact the Ministry in December of 2011 and discussed some plans.  I began contacting them again by mid-July with no response.  This recent development is a very serious problem (especially based on the early date and the fact that the river volume is more than adequate, the intake is just silted in too much) and we need to perform major work.  At present, we can run one pump at 190 GPM.  Demands on the course are averaging 400 000 GPM per night.  The math is fairly obvious: most water the river pump house can supply in a 24 hour period is approximately 270 000.  That gives us a deficit of 130 000 per night.  The reservoir holds 4 000 000  gallons so in about 30 days (September 12) the reservoir is empty.  The best solution is to clean the intake but without Ministry approval no contractor will perform the work.  Further, we may be unable to do the required work if we are turned down because of fish values, river volume, or the date on the calendar.  We can approach the city and buy water to supplement the river pump house supply but the reality is we need to perform the required work, there really is no option and I am tired of down playing the situation at the river.

 Obviously, I will limit irrigation but everything will suffer and expect to see lots of this:

Cart and Walking Damage on
Heat Stressed Turf

More Damage

Inattentiveness, indifference, and general ignorance may cause a rash of this damage.  Look for turf that is heat stressed (it will appear blue or gray) and stay away.  Keep to areas that are green and healthy looking.  I'll keep you posted.

First Try at HOLE OF THE WEEK

This time out we'll make #5 the "Hole of the Week".   We'll start with some definitions:

Weed: A plant growing where it is not wanted.

Noxious weed (a.k.a invasive plant) : " typically non-native plants that have been introduced to British Columbia without the insect predators and plant pathogens that help keep them in check in their native habitats. For this reason and because of their aggressive growth, these alien plants can be highly destructive, competitive and difficult to control" (straight off BC gov web page go here for a good resource for identifying weeds and other good info)

Nuisance weed:  "Hundreds of nuisance weeds exist in all agriculture areas and, although they cause economic losses, they are generally so widespread that enforcement is impractical" (straight from website for Peace River Regional District). 

Part of the "Hole of the Week" task will be to address the some of weed we have out there that I can't always get to.  The prime suspects are the noxious weeds knapweed and toad flax:

Spotted Knapweed

Dalmatian Toad Flax

 And the nuisance weed Mullein:

Mullein

And the weed white sweet-clover

Clover in foreground

There is plenty of all these weeds throughout the course but on #5 they are concentrated on the left bank below the driving range fence and the left hill side at the 150 yard stake.  It would be nice to have each group pull one of each weed as they pass by and leave them all in a pile in the rough and we'll dispose of them accordingly.

One of the regular routines we haven't been able to get to everyday is filling in the divots on the tee's.  Another task for interested players would be to make use of the divot mix bucket each golf car has and fill divots on the tee's we are not getting.  Take a scoop of sand with you when to the tee and fill in yours or any freshies you might find (a late addition thanks to Chico and Spanky: all the broken tees!! Picking those up and putting them in the trash helps keep things clean).

Five tee is one of the few holes we have with flower beds but even then I don't always have a person to attended to the routine maintenance.  Pulling weeds (in this case the obvious grass and dandelions growing amongst the flowers) and removing spent blossoms will help in the upkeep of the beds.

There you have it.  Like I said not a very sexy work list but all still required tasks.  We'll see what comes of peoples response to my request for help. knapweed broucher 

Modified Work Bee

Earlier this month I was asked about having another work bee like we did at the start of the year and my first reaction was no.  Mostly because all we are doing now is routine and I have trained staff to operate all the equipment needed.  I ruminated on the idea for a bit mostly because of my initial reaction which was to shoot the idea down with no debate.  There actually are many things people can do daily that contribute greatly to course conditioning.  You may suspect that I am going to go off on repairing ball marks, replacing divots, and raking bunkers (the 3 R's)  but that would be a pretty pat "golf course superintendent response" to an offer of help.  I keep forgetting that this is your course and some of the more motivated KGC members want to contribute over and above just paying yearly dues. 
I'll bet most everybody has heard of an "Adopt a Hole" program other golf courses run so members can participate in the course maintenance.  Nice idea and probably works but I bet it also requires a bit of "administration" on behalf of the superintendent.  If you attended this springs work bee and heard me give directions you'll know I can be a little controlling and, perhaps particular as to how I like things to work.  As wonderful as it is for members to take ownership of the golf course I suspect that the level of "micro-ownership" that may develop with an adopt a hole program by with some people may lead to awkward situations between members and with me. 
I've never done such a program so I may be completely out to lunch.  However, it is tough to disregard the power of numbers when you think back to the success of this springs work bee.  So I want to try a modification on the adopt a hole program.  Lets call it "The Hole of Week".  Participation is optional and no one will be keeping attendance.  Its not a competition, and no one person or group will receive recognition.  You will be helping out as best you are able and as much as you want.  Since we will only be working on a single hole per week everyone should see immediate results versus a more diffuse impact if we spread the work across the whole property.  I'll warn you now none of the things I'm proposing are very sexy but I think the general maintenance will be augmented by your attention to detail which I don't have the staff to do.
We will start after the Club Championship once I've picked a hole and got some pictures....still haven't found my camera so I may have to come up with a plan B.