Monthly Feature Hosted By:
	Bob Farren, CGCS, Director of Grounds and Golf Course Management for Pinehurst Resort and Country Club

Rivers have always played a very significant role in society. Their importance can never be overstated. America’s first settlements evolved around rivers as the source for water, mode of transportation and support for commerce. The beauty, romance and excitement of rivers have been the source of many novels throughout history. Consider Norman Maclean’s classic “A River Runs Through It” or the adventures of Mark Twain’s characters, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Our feature study this month comes from Darrell Marcinek, CGCS. Darrell is the Director of Golf Maintenance for the Somerset County Park Commission in Summerset, New Jersey. The Park Commission operates five courses that comprise over 1000 acres of parkland in Summerset County. If we use the analogy of the famous novels that have been inspired by rivers, we could develop a story based on the park commission’s Quail Brook Golf Course as a sequel to Maclean’s “A River Runs Through It”.

The New Jersey Water Supply Authority (NJWSA) was established in 1981 to protect the watershed and water supply of the Raritan River Basin. The NJWSA, working in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, established the River-Friendly Golf Course Program to implement environmental stewardship guidelines for golf courses and parklands within their watersheds.

The main characters of our “River Friendly” novel are people that are stewards of our natural resources and have found yet another innovative way for golf courses to make a positive impact on water quality and habitat management. These individuals continue to play a vital role in education and outreach that will further promote the benefits of golf at the local community level.

We invite you to become acquainted with the ways Darrell Marcinek, CGCS and the Somerset County Park Commission have made their contribution to this story and look for ways you might be able to write a chapter of your own.

If you are compelled to share an environmental case study, we would love to hear from you. Your completed case study will earn you 0.25 service points. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at bob.farren@pinehurst.com or Mark Johnson at mjohnson@gcsaa.org.

June's Guest:
	Tara Petti, Assistant Watershed Protection Specialist NJ Water Supply Authority

State law established the New Jersey Water Supply Authority (NJWSA) in 1981. The NJWSA staff operates public water supply facilities in the Raritan Basin System (including the Round Valley and Spruce Run Reservoirs and the Delaware and Raritan Canal) as well as the Manasquan Reservoir in Monmouth County.

The NJWSA Watershed Protection Programs Unit was formed in 1999. The primary functions of the Watershed Protection Unit include development and implementation of projects that protect and improve NJWSA’s water supplies, planning for watershed protection, and involvement with State water supply and watershed protection programs.

The Raritan Basin System provides the basic source of water supply to public and private water utilities that serve over 1.3 million people in central New Jersey.
The Raritan River watershed typifies an area that is beset by sprawl, a situation that is endemic throughout the East Coast metropolitan corridor. Development in the watershed, compounded by the loss of wetlands and riparian areas has dramatically increased storm water runoff and associated non-point source pollution that enters the Raritan system threatening drinking water and overall watershed integrity.

In 2003, the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association (SBMWA) and the NJWSA received a $1 million Targeted Watersheds Grant from the USEPA to improve and protect water resources in the Raritan Basin.

NJWSA implemented a suite of “River-Friendly” programs, under the EPA grant, for businesses, golf courses, citizens and farms, using versions of the SBMWA programs.

Why River Friendly for Golf Courses?
Golf courses are often situated near streams or lakes for aesthetic purposes and to meet irrigation needs. Course construction and operation can therefore either positively or negatively impact aquatic resources and wildlife. Their proximity to these resources, presents golf courses with an opportunity to protect and enhance water quality and provide a connection between members of the golfing community and these vital areas promoting the understanding that environmentally sound courses are quality courses.