Encanterra, the state’s newest private golf club, is discovering how to be sustainable in the Arizona desert.
Most golf courses in Arizona acquire water from a combination of three sources – ground water, Central Arizona Project (Colorado River) water and recycled effluent. Encanterra’s developer, Shea Homes; course designer Tom Lehman; and the community’s civil design engineers, architects, and irrigation consultants worked in conjunction with the city of Queen Creek, where the course is located, and state officials to create a golf course with no dependence on ground water. As a result, Encanterra’s infrastructure and irrigation system were planned to rely 100 percent on effluent. In fact, Encanterra’s golf course irrigation system is not connected to any ground water wells.
“Environmental stewardship is an integral part of all Shea Homes active lifestyle communities,” said Hal Looney, area president for Shea Homes. “The water-use program for Encanterra is a natural extension of Shea Homes’ overall commitment to environmental protection. This water-use program was a central component of the initial planning for the Encanterra community and golf course and it has influenced every aspect of the design and engineering of the development. We hope that it becomes a model for future course development in Arizona.”
In addition, Looney pointed out that the entire Encanterra community follows the “Shea Green Certified” program, which reflects a commitment to environmental care. It includes purchasing wood from sustainable forests, lumber conservation, construction material recycling, water conserving appliances and fixtures, outdoor water conservation techniques, electric vehicle charging stations, and much more. In late July, Shea's lifestyle communities introduced integrated solar roof tile systems to build on their green product.
Currently, 70 percent of the water used to irrigate Encanterra’s golf course is effluent provided by Johnson Utilities for which there was no other use. The balance of the water comes from the CAP. The plan is to eliminate CAP water use as the community matures. All water from the 750-acre site drains to the golf course. This water is held in lakes and will be used to irrigate the golf course and community common spaces. The lakes are stocked with fish to help reduce the amount of chemicals required to maintain the lakes. Because Encanterra does not rely upon ground water, Arizona Department of Water Resources permitted the golf course to be built with 149 acres of turf, rather than the 90 acres to which it limits other golf courses in the state.
Encanterra’s lakes were designed to maintain 100 percent of the typical runoff on the golf property under nearly all circumstances, thus ensuring the introduction of effluent water does not impact the environment downstream from the facility.
“Encanterra clearly demonstrates that with forethought, commitment and cooperation with the community at large, future golf courses can be designed and built to eliminate their use of potable water by utilizing effluent water from the surrounding communities,” Looney said. “So, rather than adding to the strain placed on potable water sources by development, golf courses, like Encanterra, can have a positive net effect on the environment by utilizing a previously untapped resource. As development continues in the Sunbelt, the hope is that more and more courses will be designed from the outset in the manner of Encanterra in order to ensure a healthy environment and a healthy industry for the future.”
To learn more about Encanterra, please visit www.encanterra.com.