Needing


DRAINAGE? DAVID SHELTON reckons


you could be on to a winner


THE news this year seems to have been dominated by stories of war and terrorism. But delve a little deeper and of equal importance are stories of water shortage. In Australia the government there has plans to allow considerable expansion in its population. But the statisticians have got to work to show that population growth will be limited by the availability of fresh water. In Western Australia, around Perth, the population explosion has already caused water shortages such that schemes have been proposed to transfer water 3000kms from the north by canal. An expensive operation but still somewhat cheaper than building desalination plants. Nearer home recent


pictures on our television screens have shown the consequences of drought in Murcia, Spain. On a golf course on which I played two years ago, then being liberally irrigated each day, now there is hardly a green blade of grass. With negligible rain in the past eighteen months irrigation has had to cease. The sward may have already gone past the recovery stage; resowing in due time seems inevitable. Water shortages in


Portugal, in the south of France, and in southern


England are warning signs of what we can expect in the years to come, so the experts tell us. Forewarned is forearmed.


Those who own or manage golf courses on heavy land that gets too wet for comfort in the winter months wish they could have a course on the lighter sandy soils. These courses need draining and, instead of negative thinking about costs, the time has come to think positively about profit.


Look at it this way; an inch of rain on an acre is in excess of 22,000 gallons. In the winter time, once the soil has reached field capacity, this excess soil water will have to go somewhere. Very little is lost by evaporation and transpiration at this time of the year. We can let it go to waste or we can look upon it as a valuable commodity and find a way of harnessing it. Needing drainage? - You could be onto a winner. Consider also the water run


off from buildings and car parking areas. Our local water authority (Anglian) makes a charge in excess of one-pound sterling per 220 gallons for taking surface water drainage. From a one acre car park at the local golf club surfaced with


tarmacadam the run-off in the average year exceeds 300,000 gallons. In the case


“We can let water go to waste or we can look upon it as a valuable commodity”


48


of the car park the water is partly polluted by oil and rubber and needs to be treated before it can be recycled. Trading in water units cannot be far off. Costs of water are going to rise considerably, probably much bigger increases than we have seen in the petroleum market.


A good drainage system


will prevent roots from drowning. As a result these roots will go deeper and explore more soil. The grass will withstand drought conditions better and recover more quickly after a prolonged dry spell. In situations where


secondary drainage systems such as Shelton Gravel Band Drainage or System 25™ have been superimposed at 400-500mm intervals over piped drains, significant savings in irrigation water are being reported. In hot weather, when irrigation is being applied to turf, the top 50-75mm is wetted. A significant amount of this water is lost to the plants through evaporation. But, if the irrigation water can percolate deeper into the soil, then evaporation losses are substantially reduced. Where gravel bands form part of the drainage system they carry the irrigation water to depths of 250-


300mm. A much deeper root system results. So where does all this lead us? The drainage specialists and the irrigation designers and installers have to work much closer together in future. The argument as to which is to go deeper the irrigation pipes or the drainage pipes must give way to deciding how best the drainage water can be used for irrigation. The land drainage consultant will need to widen his remit to


calculate just how much water is likely to be drained from the land, how this is to be stored, and how this might be marketed.


In compiling drainage and


irrigation plans the time has come to look forward ten years at least. Combined schemes from now on must be the order of the day. They may cost a trifle more to install but present day interest rates are so low such an investment is likely to be cost-effective.


Now is the time to act - not when water rationing is universal.


David Shelton heads Shelton Sportsturf Drainage Solutions, manufacturer of Europe’s largest range of specialist drainage equipment. He travels extensively and has first hand experience of drainage, and coping with drought, through the company’s contracting division. He may be contacted on 01507 578288.


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