Andrew Wilkens started his job at the Santa Fe Municipal Recreation Complex two years ago with an experiment in mind: Replicate the results of studies he had read that revealed turf didn’t need as much water as industry standards suggested.

With his five years of experience at the Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe Golf Course and the greater control offered by his job as a superintendent at the MRC, Wilkens put his vision in action. He now uses about 40 million gallons of water per year to maintain the grass on the complex’s sports fields — about 15 million gallons fewer than before his efforts.

“This was just something I wanted to experiment with,” Wilkens said. “But also just being out here for the last seven years, I’ve seen how important not only the MRC, but the golf course, too, is t

See Full Page