INDUSTRY
Reducing water needs
Turfgrass research yields new varieties by Mary Kay Woodworth, Executive Director, Georgia Urban Ag Council
Waltz UGA SCRI Trials
Turfgrass trials at UGA Griffin campus. Clint Waltz, University of Georgia (left) and Kevin Morris, Executive Director of the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP).
“It’s not easy being green,” goes the saying.
As far back as 1975, the legendary country and blues singer Ray Charles of Georgia, USA, with the 1960’s hit “Georgia On My Mind” recorded the song “Bein’ Green.” Charles sang: “It’s not easy being green. It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things, and people tend to pass you over ...” It’s not easy, either, for turfgrass growers and associated businesses, for whom “green” is crucial to the industries they have built and the jobs they have created for so many. Their customers and the communities they serve strive to be green. For well over a decade, in Georgia and in communities across the globe, outdoor water use – especially on turfgrass - has often been vilified and labeled as
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wasted water. The numerous benefits of turfgrass have conveniently been ignored by the anti-turfgrass community, whose viewpoints are narrowly focused. Turfgrasses occupy over thirty million acres in the U.S. It’s tempting to assume that eliminating our outdoor grass carpeting could solve the water demand problem. But it’s not so simple. Turfgrass provides substantial environmental and economic benefits in our landscape. It mitigates heat around our homes, stabilizes soil against erosion, provides safe play space, and reduces noise, glare, and pollution. Eliminating turf would create a whole new set of environmental challenges.
