Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2008NM89B

Utilization of Saline and Other Impaired Waters for Turfgrass Irrigation (Leinauer)

Institute: New Mexico
Year Established: 2008 Start Date: 2008-03-01 End Date: 2009-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $30,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $13,530

Principal Investigators: Bernhard Leinauer, Ryan Goss

Project Summary: This project will determine if saline and other impaired water sources can be used for turf irrigation. Effluent water from sewage treatment plants, brine from reversed osmosis treatment plants, and some sources of ground water contain a much higher salt level than traditional potable irrigation water. New and improved salt tolerant warm season grasses have made the prospect of using these grasses in conjunction with saline irrigation water more promising. However, these new grasses have yet to be tested for a combined cold hardiness and salt tolerance under harsh high altitude climate conditions, which this project will do.