Establishing Tall Fescue and Kentucky Bluegrass Using Subsurface Irrigation and Saline Water

Published in Agron. J. 105:183–190 (2013) doi:10.2134/agronj2012.0187 Available freely online through the author-supported open access option. Copyright © 2013 by the American Society of Agronomy, 5585 Guilford Road, Madison, WI 53711. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. I the United States, the golf industry accounts for more than 480,000 jobs (Haydu et al., 2008) and in New Mexico, the green industry, which includes the turfgrass and golf sector, has contributed an average of US$975,000,000 annually to the state’s economy (Diemer, 2006). Natural precipitation in the desert Southwest is well below turfgrasses’ annual water requirements, however, and additional irrigation, particularly during the summer, is necessary to sustain turfgrasses and to maintain adequate turf quality. Despite the economic importance and continued public demand for green areas, other stakeholders, such as agricultural producers, industry, or private residents, will be given priority to access potable water when water conservation is mandated. Because turfgrass areas are considered unnecessary luxuries by many communities in arid and semiarid regions, the amount of potable water allocated for landscape irrigation is oft en restricted (City of Albuquerque, NM, 2000). Replacing potable irrigation water with water unfi t for human consumption has been proposed as a strategy to conserve water for drinking and domestic purposes. Lensford et al. (1990) estimated that only one-fourth of the 24.7 Mm3 of groundwater in New Mexico can be considered potable. Th e remaining three-quarters of the groundwater is moderately saline to very saline and might represent an available resource for irrigation purposes. In addition to saline groundwater, nonpotable treated effl uent is another water source that can be used for landscape irrigation. Currently, 37% of all golf courses in the Southwest are irrigated with recycled water (Th rossell et al., 2009), and Huck et al. (2000) estimated that using nonpotable water from diff erent sources could reduce overall irrigation costs by 20% or more compared with using potable water. While utilizing saline and brackish waters has become an increasingly accepted strategy for conserving potable water, however, the detrimental eff ects to plants and the underlying soil resulting from salt accumulation (Magesan, 2001) have become increasingly apparent. Th e majority of the studies conducted on the longterm quality of turfgrass irrigated with saline water concluded that warm-season species (C4) yield higher quality and are more salt tolerant than cool-season species (C3) (Sevostianova et al., 2011a, 2011b). Similarly, Dean et al. (1996) suggested the use of bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] over tall fescue in arid climates if saline water is used for irrigation. Among coolseason grasses, tall fescue has been shown to provide greater turf quality than alkaligrass [Puccinellia distans (Jacq.) Parl.], perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), or fi ne fescue (Festuca rubra var. trichophylla Duchos), in the arid Southwest when saline irrigation was applied (Sevostianova et al., 2011a). Seed germination and early seedling growth are stages in a plant’s development that are highly susceptible to salinity because capillary rise and evaporation accumulate salt near the soil surface, thus bringing a saline solution in contact with the seeds (Almansouri et al., 2001). Deleterious eff ects of salinity on ABSTRACT