Aerial Map of de Anza Country Club Golf Course,
Borrego Springs, California
The photo is oriented with the vertical axis in a north-south position. The golf course is located on the site of a former farm on the desert floor at the foot of the San Ysidro Mountains.The Colorado Desert ecosystem of the Borrego Valley receives less than seven inches of rain annually.
Two lakes that supply the irrigation system are located along the southwestern fairways at greens 4 and 6. The brown protuberance on the east end of the complex is a driving practice area and an area for growing turf. Fairway complexes are wider than fairways in newly-built golf courses.
Water Energy Grant Work Plan – Project 1 –
Replacement of irrigation system with Rain Bird IC system
Description of the Project:
As can be seen from the photo, de Anza Country Club is a desert oasis in a seismically active area in northeastern San Diego County. The current irrigation system at de Anza Country Club golf course was built in 1984 and is very expensive to operate, maintain, and repair, both in terms of water and electrical power. Because of a poor initial design and the use of inappropriately rigid mainline pipes and improper pipe sizes and spray heads, the system operates many more hours per day than should be necessary to keep the 150-acre golf course and landscaping in reasonable condition.
Increasing electricity and repair costs inspired the Board of Directors to form an Irrigation Study Group in 2012. At the same time, a representative from the club Board joined the Borrego Water Coalition, a local thought-leadership group whose mission is to insure long-term sustainabilityof the Borrego Valley Aquifer. The de Anza representative on the BWC has exerted a positive influence on his counterparts from the recreation/golf sector to substantively address its use of over-drafted groundwater. The course superintendent sent a Request-for-Proposal for a state-of-the-art irrigation system (designed by architect David Yoshimura) to five vendors in late 2012. Bids at that time ranged from $2M to $2.4M.
The Board’s Request-for-Proposal was reviewed in 2013by irrigation design and maintenance experts as well as the experts from the club’s management partner, JC Resorts. A modified design using Rain Bird IC technology was developed. The new design promises to provide even more savings in power for pumping and in total water consumed.
The new Rain Bird IC system will allow pinpoint control of individual sprinkler heads on every section of irrigation line (instead of an entire sub-segment running when only a small area of greens or fairways need extra water). Material used in the main and lateral pipelines will be more resilient during minor earth tremors, and much less fuel, chemicals, and fertilizer will be required to operate the system. For example, each sprinkler head can be managed in the field by an irrigation technician using a standard tablet computer such as an iPad. De Anza’s wells are now metered, and post-installation data available from them and from the Rain Bird system will be shared with any other desert golf course interested in the opportunity to save water, energy, and cost.
Project Partner: None. Project cost share will be borne by club membership in an assessment, the size of which will depend on funding.
Direct Project Administration and Reporting:
A final contract with the chosen vendor will be provided to DWR by the Project Manager prior to the project start date.
Montly grant progress reports will be provided by administrative staff as directed by the Project Manager and will include percentage completion of each task listed under “Project Construction/Implementation” below, YTD spending on associated de Anza budget line items for tasks listed under “Project Construction/Implementation,” any change orders agreed upon with vendors, and significant accomplishments associated with tasks. Copies of receipts paid will be attached.
Invoices will be handled by normal accounts payable/receivable protocols within de Anza and JC Resorts.
Visits to the de Anza golf course by DWR staff are invited and encouraged during the project. Staff should contact the General Manager or the Project Manager to arrange a visit and tour.
A Draft Project Report will be filed with DWR within sixty days of receipt of as-built documentation from the vendor by the Project Manager. A Final Project Report will be filed within sixty days of any final guidance or commentary provided by DWR to de Anza’s Project Manager. Project reports will contain information to share with other desert golf courses desiring to enhance water conservation efforts through irrigation infrastructure improvement. This includes but is not limited to well pump comparative reports by month, electrical usage summaries, design advantages and disadvantages, final accounting for the project, and lessons learned.
Easements: None required.
Project Evaluation/Design/Engineering:
An Irrigation Study Team convened by the de Anza Board of Directors has been scrutinizing efficiency and operation of the irrigation infrastructure since 2006. Memberscommissioned a redesign by David Yoshimura (President of Fairway Irrigation Design in Palm Desert, CA, and a Professional Member of the American Society of Irrigation Consultants). Mr. Yoshimura provided the most-current design. An engineering drawing of his design is available online on DropBox using the link at the end of this section.
The Board has also been working with Bob Dobek, Director of Golf Course Maintenance for JC Resorts, who is very knowledgeable and widely-respected in the golf course maintenance community. Mr. Dobek has extensive experience in irrigation system replacement. Mr. Dobek and colleagues reviewed maintenance techniques and practices with the current system. Mr. Dobek also reviewed the design from Mr. Yoshimura and recommended changes that would increase efficiency per unit cost.
The Irrigation Study Team is and will remain committed to restructuring irrigation in a less water-and-power-intensive way. The Team brings a wealth of experience in landscape design, engineering, water economics, and accounting to this process. Additionally, all members embrace the opportunity to take a leadership role in promoting sustainable desert golf course design and to work with nearby golf courses on local aquifer sustainability.
A copy of the final Yoshimura design will be provided to the DWR after any grant award.
Permitting: None required
Proposal Monitoring Plan:
- Well pump water meter reading summaries
- Warranty work by vendor
- SDG&E electric bill summaries for well pumps
- Summary report of over-seeding efforts and changes due to more specific control of sprinkler heads
- Flash reports/balance sheets showing budget items likely to change with irrigation replacement
Project Construction/Implementation: (these match tasks in the Schedule attachment)
TaskDeliverable
PlanningSigned contract with vendor
Staging of materials/equipment/support facilitiesVendor provision of products
and materials
Please refer to the following websites for product details:
Marking the course for constructionCourse marked
Wire and pipe installation, including components below Excavation and assembly
- Mechanical and electric valves
- Field wiring
- Mainline and lateral piping
- Quick coupling valves, controller devices
Sprinkler head installationHeads connected to pipes
System testingSprinkler controls function
TaskDeliverable
Documentation of systemAs-built engineering drawings
Acceptance testingStaff and management
resolve any issues with vendor
Related Attachments/Supporting Documents
Formost Bid: Most recent bid from Rain Bird vendor
Yoshimura redesign link: Design upon which bid was offered
Water Energy Grant Work Plan – Project 2 –
Replace 50 irrigated acres adjacent to
fairways and greens with native desert landscaping
Description of the Project:
The original design for the de Anza Country Club golf course was modeled on expectations and aesthetics typical of the coastal area in San Diego in the mid-1950s. At that time, little thought was given to egregious use of water in the Borrego Valley. As evidence mounts for the severe overdraft of the groundwater supply in the area, the de Anza course is well-positioned to reduce the amount of turf to be irrigated and still retain the challenge and beauty of the playable area.
This project consists of reducing the amount of irrigated acreage on the golf course by nearly one-third by replacing areas of turf on the edges of the course and between fairways with low-water native desert landscaping and decomposed granite. Several vendors were consulted in 2008 regarding the location and design of areas which could be replanted. One such plan map is attached; the brown are those under consideration for desert landscaping.
The 50-acre project is divided into three phases to be implemented between 2015 and 2017. As much work as possible would be done in the summer months.
Project Partner: None. Project cost share will be borne by club membership in an assessment, the size of which will depend on funding.
Direct Project Administration and Reporting:
Bi-monthly grant progress reports will be provided by administrative staff as directed by the Project Manager during each phase and will include percentage completion of each task listed under “Project Construction/Implementation” below, YTD spending on associated de Anza budget line items for tasks listed under “Project Construction/Implementation,” changes, and significant accomplishments associated with tasks. Copies of receipts paid will be attached.
Invoices will be handled by normal accounts payable/receivable protocols within de Anza Country Club and JC Resorts.
Visits to the de Anza golf course by DWR staff are invited and encouraged during all phases of the project. Staff should contact the General Manager or the Project Manager to arrange a visit and a tour.
A Draft Project Report will be filed with DWR within sixty days of development of as-built documentation by the Project Manager. A Final Project Report will be filed within sixty days of any final guidance or commentary provided by DWR to de Anza’s Project Manager. Project reports will contain information to share with other desert golf courses desiring to enhance water conservation efforts through desertscaping. This includes but is not limited to engineering drawings, well pump comparative reports by month, electrical usage summaries, design advantages and disadvantages, final accounting for the project, and lessons learned.
Easements: None required.
Project Evaluation/Design/Engineering:
The club membership includes several retired landscape architects and agronomists who would be consulted by the maintenance staff on project roll-out details. In addition, Bob Dobek, Director of Golf Course Maintenance for JC Resorts, has extensive experience in turf reduction projects on desert golf courses.
A copy of the final desert landscaping plan will be provided to the DWR after any grant award.
Permitting: None required
Proposal Monitoring Plan:
Well pump water meter reading summaries should show a significant reduction in water volume after each phase of the project is completed. SDG&E electric bill summaries for well pumps should show significantly-reduced power output. Corporate balance sheets should also reflect changes to labor and maintenance costs, including gasoline for mowers.
Project Construction/Implementation (for each phase of 10-20 acres):
TASKDELIVERABLE
Planning
Complete diagram for turf removalTurf removal diagram
Complete landscape designDesign document
Adjust maintenance staff schedules
Order materials and plantsPurchase orders
Staging of materials/equipment/support facilities
Prepare thoroughfare for truck and
equipment traffic
Remove existing irrigation
Test remaining irrigation post-changeSatisfactory system function
Excavation
TASKDELIVERABLE
Planting
Decomposed granite installationInstalled per plan
Documentation of phase workFinal reports and cost documents
Related Attachments
Desert Scape Map: Areas in brown are areas slated for turf removal.
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