Empire Polo Club keeps grass green while conserving water

While many people are focusing on saving water, golf courses and the local polo grounds come under increased scrutiny.

But in the midst of the drought, The Empire Polo Club keeps its grass green, while trying to conserve water.

After three weekends of festivals and thousands of people walking around, the polo grounds took quite a beating, which means it’s going to take a lot of water to get the grounds looking green.

“It takes a while, not as long as you would think. Probably 60 to 90 days, the field should be back in play and looking good and soft enough for horses to get on,” President of Empire Polo Club Al Haagen said.

Haagen said their watering methods have been water conscious for years.

“We put it on at night. We have special systems computer systems that turn the water down or off if it rains or if it’s cloudy and we don’t have a lot of sun. So it’s managed really well. So we use as little as we can,” Haagen said.

The whole process is called aeration. Empire Polo Club uses machines to poke holes into the ground so water can soak in easier.

Additionally, all of the water the club uses agriculturally gets stored in a lake on site and comes from the Colorado River Valley.

“And that’s what we use through all of our irrigation. Other water that’s coming out of the wells that’s being talked about that has to be reduced in use is from the aquifer is used for drinking water and domestic water,” Haagen said.

Crews on site 24/7 to monitor if a leak or problem happens.

“It’s a constant water management process. It’s not going to go away and it’s not going to go away even when we get to the water table back. Water is always going to be an issue, so it’s imperative that everyone to go ahead and manage the water we have and save it as much as we can,” Haagen said.