Golf Course Impacts to Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystems of the Oligotrophic and Mesotrophic Waters of Upper Stoney Lake

Golf Course Impacts to Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystems of the Oligotrophic and Mesotrophic Waters of Upper Stoney Lake

Joseph Gentile

Upper Stony Lake Association, Ed Paleczny

April 2022

Online

Upper Stony Lake

This research conducts a comprehensive literature review on anthropogenic land uses and their impacts on oligotrophic and mesotrophic inland lakes relating to the water quality of upper Stoney Lake. A common consensus within the literature points to the importance of education, reducing the use and reliance of pesticides at the local golf course and watershed-scale, and reconsidering North American cosmetic standards for golf courses, in reducing the impacts of pesticides applied to golf courses on watersheds. This review has provided direct evidence that application timing and rates of synthetic fertilizers on golf course turfs influence the degree to which nutrients like Nitrogen and Phosphorus are found in concentrated amounts within stormwater effluent draining these sites. These findings may be significant in informing golf course land use regulation within the Upper Stoney Lake watershed, or the watershed of other oligotrophic and mesotrophic lakes globally.