- Think of under 1/2 inch of rain and that causing issues.
Well, at some places, that's what you get over a very long
period of time, places like the Desert Southwest
where persistent drought in this area
has really been hitting so much of the Southwest
and the Rockies.
And it's also been pushing businesses to make
some long-term adjustments.
One such business is golfing.
And a Nevada golf course has been replacing
their grass to conserve water.
- Yeah.
And so far, they've converted 39 acres of cool season grass
to warm season grass.
That means they'll now be using about 25% to 30%
less water to maintain it.
And joining us now with the details
is the golf course superintendent James Symons.
James, thank you so much for your time and a happy Memorial
Day weekend to you.
We really appreciate it.
Curious what caused you guys to take this step to conserve
water on your golf course.
JAMES SYMONS: So thanks for having me.
The Desert Southwest is under a lot of pressure
right now because of the declining--
the troubles with the Colorado River feeding Lake Mead.
And so all of the golf courses in particular
are being hit with new legislation in southern Nevada
to reduce our water use by about 35%, 36%.
And in doing so, we had to basically take
on the conversion process of converting our cool season
fairways and some turf to warm season, which, like you said,
saves about 30% in water.
And then we're also converting non-functional turf areas that
can't be used by kids and so forth, and functional turf
on the golf course to desertscape,
which saves even more water.
So we're in the midst of all that right now.
- James. I'm from Arizona.
And the battle of Colorado River water
has been going on for a long time
and has been really intense over the last year or so.
You're from Nevada on the other side.
So many people needing the water out of Lake Mead.
Really, does this make a big impact changing this
to Bermuda grass, number one?
And number two, how does it play differently,
or does it play differently for golfers?
JAMES SYMONS: The main difference with Bermuda grass
is that it just goes dormant in the winter
months just because of the cool weather.
And in Nevada in particular-- sorry, Las Vegas in particular
is the high desert.
And so we get quite cold in the winters.
We're not as warm as Palm Springs and Phoenix.
But the main difference is just that it's dormant.
It actually plays quite well in the winter.
It's phenomenal in the summer months.
And that's when we need to save the water.
And the reality is that we're in something
that's bigger than us.
It's a huge deal.
And we all have to work together to save water.
- You all have to work together to save water.
That's so important.
And you know, James, real quick--
I'm looking at the video that you guys have there.
There's a lot of grass.
How are you going about, you know,
tearing out all the grass that you have now, replacing it?
What's the process look like?
And then when are you guys expecting for all of this
to be complete?
JAMES SYMONS: Yeah, so like I say,
we did the conversion last summer.
It took about three, four months.
The golf course was closed for five months just
to properly grow it in.
Some of the pictures you're seeing right now
are the sodding process and so forth.
And then we'll continue in this year to do more conversion.
We've got another 15 acres slated
to convert to desert this year.
And also, the driving range was another 6 and 1/2 acres.
We'll convert to Bermuda grass as well.
So yeah, it's going to be an ongoing process for sure.
But I think by the end of it, the goal per the Southern
Nevada Water Authority is we have
to get to these new water restrictions
by January of next year.
- Yeah.
And James, I'm sure a lot of people
are going to be following the work that you did
and taking lessons, as you guys are one of the first
to do that out there at Anthem Country Club.
Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
JAMES SYMONS: Thanks for having me.