Searching for ways to beat the state’s drought, University of
Georgia scientists and Extension Service agents are exploring
ways to reuse water for irrigation.

“Reusing treated municipal wastewater is a more widely accepted
practice, especially for large turf areas like golf courses,
recreational facilities and parks,” said Wayne Gardner,
coordinator of the UGA Georgia Center
for Urban Agriculture.

“It’s a method of recycling a very important natural resource,”
he said.

The state’s Environmental Protection
Division is moving several golf courses to use reuse water
for their irrigation.

Mandated Switches

EPD is mandating, Gardner said, that courses in the upper
Chattahoochee River basin with a certain type of surface water
withdrawal permit must switch to reuse water.

“This is not an immediate conversion,” he said. “But several
courses will have to be on board with reuse water within 10
years.”

Georgia’s golf course and landscape professionals are working
with EPD officials and local governments to tap this source of
irrigation water.

“Urban agricultural industries are water-dependent,” Gardner
said. “I find them to be very proactive in finding alternative,
efficient and environmentally friendly means of doing
business.”

Reuse Water Symposium

UGA scientists, county agents and researchers and representatives
of the state’s golf courses and water authorities will debate the
issue next month during a reuse water symposium.

“Reuse Water: Opportunities and Challenges” is set for
May 29 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the UGA College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences campus in Griffin, Ga.
The symposium will bring in a number of experts on the issue.

“We plan to throw this issue out on the platter, not make any
judgement calls, and have everyone come and speak from different
viewpoints,” Gardner said.

Experts from Florida

The program will include experts from central Florida, where golf
courses are using reuse water. “These speakers will be able to
present the reality of reuse water,” Gardner said.

“Our keynote address will be by Stephen Draper, a water-policy
advisor to Gov. Roy Barnes,” he said. “And we’ll have speakers
from EPD, a local water authority, the environmental community
and others.”

The event should attract water treatment facility managers and
potential reuse water customers. City and county officials,
regulators and others with environmental and water-policy
interests will want to be there.

The $40 fee (or $50 after May 22) covers lunch and other costs.
To sign up, or to learn more, call the Griffin Campus Office of
Continuing Education at (770) 229-3477.