Golfdom, January 2016

WORRIED ABOUT WOTUS Our survey found readers split but our sources consider its threat as real an island green And now they also have an independent contractor who monitors WOTUS for them Itll be a huge deal our entire water source comes from Grand Lake and of course everything drains into Grand Lake Our whole course is in that area the 100 year floodplain and 4000 feet from the lake says Superintendent Justin May Its going to be a huge part of our club depending on how far it goes Its another hoop well have to jump through Itll probably be for the good somewhere but its going to make our lives difficult for a while Rodney Crow CGCS at the Battleground GC Deer Park Texas is a part of the GCSAAs Grassroots Ambassador Program He says the group is trying to educate the general public that WOTUS isnt just bad for golf courses but for municipalities and the general public as well Its going to affect not only what we do but how we do it and the costs associated with it Crow says Itll drastically change our fertilization practices even the way we mow And the rancher or the homeowner if they have a pond on their property its going to impact them directly as well Alston is still seeking out education on the topic anywhere he can find it He relies on GCSAA as well as Golfdom and was thankful to see the topic on a recent cover of the magazine Superintendents need more education about what it is and what it is not Alston says I think its going to get bigger and bigger and bigger Continued on page 26 THE GOLFDOM REPORT IS WATERS OF THE U S WOTUS A REAL CONCERN FOR YOU You bet it is 56 28 16 Its not something Im really following It isnt a concern for me HAVE YOU TAKEN THE TIME TO READ THE WOTUS RULE 49 51 No Yes I think we as superintendents dont have a clue as to what WOTUS really is he says Our course abuts a federal estuarine preserve so Ive got DEP and EPA guys in all the time and they cant explain to me what WOTUS is I ask them all and they literally have this puzzled look And these guys are supposed to be telling us Shangri La GC in Afton Okla sits on Grand Lake O the Cherokees They have Huge Enormous Those were the first two words Jimmy Alston used in describing how big a concern Waters of the U S WOTUS is for him The superintendent at Eagle Creek G CC in Naples Fla Alston says he has been following WOTUS closely maybe even obsessively since 2006 Back then he says the Florida Department of Environmental Protection kept a website with Jimmy Alston regular updates He could read the memos between the different state and federal departments It was a back and forth you could see these conversations some of them were almost arguments he says In 2012 the website disappeared Alston called to see where the page went but got nowhere He feels similarly lost today and believes hes not alone Ive got DEP and EPA guys in all the time and they cant explain to me what WOTUS is 24 Golfdom January 2016 Golfdom com