Water Management & Conservation
Water is a crucial natural resource for New York and water stewardship is a core competency of New York superintendents. New York statewide water use was estimated at approximately 7.9 million AF in 2023. In comparison, New York golf courses used 38,134 AF of water in 2023, representing less than half of one percent of the state’s annual water consumption. Each acre-foot of water applied generated approximately $182,134 in direct economic contribution for New York, underscoring golf’s significant role in delivering economic value for the state.
Total irrigation equaled 30,646 acre‑feet (AF) supporting roughly 51,000 irrigated acres, with more than one‐third of facilities proactively reducing their irrigated acreage over a five-year span. In New York, courses report a median of 61.0 irrigated acres per facility, in line with the national median as reported by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA).
In 5 years, more than one-third of New York golf facilities removed 1,807 acres from irrigation, reducing the statewide irrigated footprint by 3.5% - signaling lasting conservation gains.
Calculating Water Use in Acre-Feet
Water use is calculated in acre-feet (AF), which is the amount of water required to cover one acre, to a depth of one foot. An acre is about the size of a football field. It represents roughly 326,000 gallons. (Source: Colorado State University, 2020)
New York’s water strategies, led by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC), and the Water Resources Institute, advances resilience principles - protecting supplies, managing infrastructure, and fostering sustainability to safeguard communities and ecosystems statewide. New York State’s strategies align closely with New York Golf Industry BMPs for sustainable water use, emphasizing education, outreach, and innovation. Golf courses lead by example, adopting efficient irrigation systems, monitoring, tracking, and demand management practices that conserve water, safeguard watersheds, and protect water quality - while contributing to recreation, fitness, and tourism for the state.
Sustainable New York – Summary of Water Strategies
Healthy ecosystems, thriving communities, resilient growth.
Conservation at the Course:
New York golf courses used less than one percent of the state’s annual water consumption in 2023.
Water Management & Conservation BMPs
Superintendents in New York are deploying an impressive arsenal of water-conservation BMPs that blend cutting-edge science with hands-on stewardship. Nearly every course now uses wetting agents (94%) to boost infiltration, while visual scouting and targeted hand-watering (92%) ensure only the driest, most stressed turf receives supplemental irrigation. Other top water‑saving BMPs: mulching (83%), soil‑moisture meters (78%), and routine system inspections/calibration (74%). These layered strategies demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to stretch every drop of water as far as possible.
New York golf courses demonstrate strong water-quality protections. A vast majority of superintendents remove clippings before wash-downs (84%) and conduct regular water sampling (72%). Over half maintain chemical-free buffers (53%) or compost clippings (50%), while nearly half use vegetative strips (47%). Structural measures - bioswales, filter strips, detention basins - are found at one-third of facilities, with 25% using pervious paving. Emerging practices like greywater recycling (24%) and in-ground sensors are expanding. These layered safeguards highlight the industry’s leadership in conserving resources and protecting waterways while maintaining high-quality playing conditions.
Water Sources
Water sources are diversified to reduce strain on public systems: nearly half of irrigation is drawn from on‑site wells; more than one‑third comes from self‑supplied surface water; and the remainder is split across municipal supplies, reclaimed water, and other sources. Water use and sources may vary due to differences in temperature, geography, water accessibility, and maintenance operations; factors may include precipitation, soil types, temperature, irrigation and xeriscape practices, turfgrass species, etc.
4% of New York golf courses used reclaimed water in 2023 which is below the national average of 21% and above the Northeast regional average of 2.6% as measured by the GCSAA in 2020.
What is Recycled Water?
Recycled water, also called effluent or reclaimed water, is produced by water treatment facilities and is sold for irrigation or other purposes.
Additional Water Conservation Highlights
USGS Water Use Data for New York
In 2015, according to the USGS’ Estimated New York Golf Course Irrigation Water Use, published in 2018, New York golf courses irrigated approximately 41,700 acres of turfgrass.
USGS reported that New York golf courses withdrew about 36% of irrigation water from groundwater and 64% from surface water. Reclaimed wastewater and potable public-supply deliveries were not reported in the USGS dataset.
According to USGS, public-supply freshwater withdrawals (2,425 Mgal/d) were about 94 times larger than self-supplied golf irrigation freshwater withdrawals (25.8 Mgal/d) in New York in 2015.
Golf irrigation accounted for roughly 1% of the freshwater volume withdrawn by public water suppliers statewide.
In 2015, New York golf courses consumed about 0.66 acre-feet of irrigation water per acre of irrigated turf, while roughly 5% of withdrawals cycled back as return flows that contribute to aquifer recharge and help sustain local surface waters.
What are Return Flows?
When golf courses irrigate, water is used by the turf and lost through evapotranspiration. But not all of it disappears. A small portion — about 5% in New York — seeps back into the ground or drains into nearby streams. These return flows help recharge underground aquifers and support local rivers and wetlands, keeping water in circulation for other users and the environment.
GCSAA National & Regional Water Use Data
Accurately measuring irrigated acres is central to water management, allowing superintendents to calibrate pump run times, set application rates, and benchmark efficiency. In New York, courses report a median of 61 irrigated acres per facility, in-line with the GCSAA national median and about six acres more than the Northeast (NE) median of 55.3 acres.
In 2022, GCSAA published the Golf Course Environmental Profile Phase III Volume I 2022 Water Use and Management Practices on U.S. Golf Courses.
The median applied water per US golf facility in 2020 was 66.3 AF.
Water use per facility (in median AF) for the Northeast Region in 2020 remained flat vs. 2005.
Total projected applied AF for the Region declined by 18%.
These insights help superintendents spot opportunities to apply additional BMPs and water management strategies. It is important to note that the GCSAA weighting may have been skewed toward smaller courses or less representative of New York state.
Method of Water-Use Management
An overwhelming share of New York courses (84%) uses metered reporting which allows for accurate measurement and real-time insight into water budgets, leak detection, calibration of pump schedules, and optimization of run-times. This demonstrates stewardship and empowers data-driven decisions that can reduce consumption and costs while maintaining turf quality.
Approach
What is assessed:
Reported volumes were derived from the 2024 New York Golf Facility Survey for total facility water use and golf course irrigation.
How it is measured:
Water meter records were used for 84% of facilities with 16% estimating usage via pump run times or utility bills. Percentages by source are rounded ranges due to local variation and multi‑source blending. Conservation rates reflect self‑reported adoption of specific BMPs.
