Water Project Update

We are very excited with the progress of the water project to this point.  We are still on target to go online with the system June 2017.

Tank - We recently finished wrapping the tank with a large cable.  For those of you who witnessed this it was very impressive.  The cable is wound around the tank under tension and anchored in several places.  The large red tower completed the wrap in less than 24 hours.  Next week the cable will be covered with 6" of concrete.  The tank will then be covered with a water barrier prior to back fill.

Backfill - We will begin backfilling the tank after the first of the year.  The soil must meet specific moisture parameters in order for us to backfill and compact the soil around the tank.  Several weeks ago we tested the soil and found it to be nearly perfect.  We decided to cover the pile to maintain the moisture content which ended up being a great idea with all the rain.   We estimate almost all of the spoils on #2 tee will be used to backfill the tank.  Once completed the majority of the tank will be backfilled to the rim.  The most exposed area will be on the northwest side of the tank facing #14 tee.  Approximately 7' will be exposed on this side.  The area will be screened by the bathroom and landscape.

Sewer - With the recent extension of the sewer system to Orchard Drive, along Sims Road adjacent to our project, we decided to modified our design to accommodate the new sewer connection.  Access to the sewer will allow us to eliminate a septic field for our restroom and more importantly discharge our backwash from the recycled water filters into the sewer.  The original design was to utilize the overflow line we installed along #14 to discharge the backwash back into the outfall line we receive our recycled water from.  The original design would allow us to always receive the minimum daily  amount of recycled water guaranteed in our contract from Scotts Valley (170k gallons).  The quantity of backwash reintroduced into the outfall line (10k gallons/day) potentially limited us from taking all of the water flowing down the pipeline due to the permitted water quality the state mandates for discharge to the ocean.  This is a huge win for us to now have the ability to take almost every drop of water in the outfall pipeline (up to 500k gallons/day) for the next 30 years.  We negotiated the cost of the sewer connection to be applied to our property taxes over the 25-30 years.

Water Diversion - Part of our contract to receive the secondary water from Scotts Valley requires us to install a valve on Graham Hill Road to diver the water to Pasatiempo.  The system was originally designed to divert water and included this valve.  The valve was removed by the City of Scotts Valley many years ago.  We are working closely Scotts Valley on several design options to divert the water to Pasatiempo.

The water project passed with overwhelming support from the shareholders.  We all recognized the importance of securing alternative water sources at reasonable rates.  This past October the City of Santa Cruz raised our potable water rates almost 40%.  The increase was not known at the time of the shareholder vote.  Without this project the known increases in potable water rates through 2020 would increase our annual potable water costs from 550k to 1.15 million.  

Please contact Scott or myself if you have any questions.  Thank you for the support and commitment to this project.

Water Project Update

Water Project Progress It will take approximately 20 weeks to complete the tank construction (2-1-17 projected completion) All of the dirt that is being stored by the 2nd tee will be used as backfill against the tank.  All of the dirt that is being stored at the project location will be top soil for finish grade. We applied hydromulch to all three piles to ensure they stay in place during the winter months.  We should complete the installation of the overflow pipeline right of the 14th hole and behind the green. The piles of sand behind the 14th green/15th tee will be used for backfill against the pipeline. The overflow pipeline is mandated in our construction permit in case of emergency It appears we will be tying into the new sewer system that recently got extended from Graham Hill road to Orchard drive on Sims road. We need to dispose of waste from our restroom but also backwash from our filtration station.The backwash was causing an issue that disposing of it into the sewer will resolve. We have had our preliminary meetings with Scotts Valley and their engineers to come up with the best solution to divert the recycled water at Sims and Graham Hill to our plant. Scotts Valley will present to Pasatiempo 3 options for diversion and delivery by November 1st. The projected completion date for the project is July 1, 2017

Water Project Update

The water project is well underway.  The excavation of the tank and pump station vault was completed this week.  We were very fortunate not to find any significant ground water during the excavation.  The spoils from the excavation will be stored below 2 tee until the tank is complete.  Most of the spoils will return for backfill around the 1st of the year.

The next phase of the project will involve the construction of the pump station vault and storage tank foundation. 

Hand Watering

Pasatiempo funded the installation of a new irrigation system in 2010.  The new hardware and software provides the latest technology in golf course water management.  The irrigation decisions we make everyday utilize weather station data, soil moisture meters and many years of professional experience.  The technology we have available greatly decreases the need to hand water with hoses but will never eliminate this most basic management practice.  The last thing we want to do is overwater at night and eliminate hand watering.  Over watering decreases playability and increases disease pressure and expenses. 

Our greens are the most important surface on the golf course.  It only makes up 4 acres of our entire property but demands the majority of our resources.  In order for us to maintain expectations moisture levels must be consistent throughout all of our greens.  During the dry season we schedule 2 employees every morning to hand water greens.  We target moisture percentages based on the weather and events for that day.  In the afternoon we schedule 2-3 employees with the same task.  We do this 7 days a week.  The greens never take a day off and neither do we. 

One of our staff members was recently hit with a ball.  I’ve witnessed severe injury from golfers hitting into maintenance staff resulting in permanent disability.  I know none of us wish this upon anyone.  There will be times when you need to wait a few minutes for an employee to finish watering a green during your round.  We ask that you allow our staff to safely finish their task before hitting.  Thank you for your support and understanding. 

Aeration

Spring aeration is almost complete and once again our maintenance staff pushed through some long days to keep us ahead of schedule.  This year we added an additional procedure to the greens we believe will significantly benefit long term health and playability.  The greens have developed a hard pan layer just below our aeration depth.  Over time the layer will decrease water infiltration rates causing excess moisture to build up in the top layer of the profile.  This can cause numerous issues including; soft conditions, anaerobic soils, decreased microbial populations, excess thatch and disease.  The DryJect Maximus injects high pressure water into the green and fractures the soil at depths well below the layer.  At the same time sand is drawn into the holes creating a pore space for air and water.

putting green 2 days after aeration 4/20/16

DryJect through the bottom of the soil profiler

The rest of our aeration schedule is similar to past aerations

• Greens were aerated with 1/2" hollow tines, top dressed and fertilized
• Fairways tees and approaches were aerated, seeded, top dress and fertilized
• Traffic areas in the roughs were aerated, seeded, top dressed and fertilized.  

first drag #4

DryJect #16

We utilize our 4 days of closure to perform tree maintenance around the golf course.  This year we removed a dead pine between #1 and #9.  Numerous cypress trees were pruned on #9, #10 and #17.  We are now moving on to a few oak trees along #16 and will finish the week working on the oak trees in the parking lot next to the tennis courts.

We can't say enough about our mechanic Mario and what a great job he does.  Another aeration with no major mechanical issues is significant for any operation.

If we want to be better this year we need to make changes in our program from the previous year.  If we do the same thing every year and expect different results we will never reach our goals.  We are confident the changes to our program this year will improve your experience on the golf course.

Where is El Nino?

The winter of 2015-2016 was sold as the Godzilla of all El Nino's.  We started off great with over 30" of rain.  Our average annual rainfall since 1948 is 30" which we exceeded on January 30th of this year.

2015-2016

November  4.25"
December  9.45"
January     16.85"

Total         30.55"
 
Then we hit February and received 2 rain events totaling 1".  So does this mean El Nino is a bust?  Historically, El Nino typically produces significant rain during March and April.

1997-1998  8"
1982-1983  20.25"
1957-1958  15.35"

Average       14.5"

If we receive average rainfall for an El Nino season over the next 60 days we could approach 45" making this the 5th wettest year since 1948.

The golf course is dry and ready to soak up some much needed rain.  The extended forecast looks promising with 4" of rainfall predicted over the next 7 days.  Course conditions will still be favorable heading into the weekend.  Dust off your rain gear and enjoy the golf course!