The Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) has released a best practice guide for water management on racecourses. The guide was developed in partnership with the Horse Welfare Board (HWB) and the Racecourse Association (RCA).
The guidance is primarily aimed at clerks of course and grounds staff, but it is equally relevant for racecourse executives and decision-makers responsible for investment, planning and risk management. According to STRI, it has been designed to be accessible to both technical and non-technical audiences, ensuring it can be understood and applied across all levels of racecourse operations.
The document follows up on the Performance Quality Standard (PQS) for turf racecourses STRI released in 2024. This document highlighted the growing need for robust data measurement to support an enhanced and insightful approach to surface management. A key component of this has been the objective assessment of soil water content and how this relates to irrigation demand, application and water availability.
“In sport, we can no longer rely on historic climate trends alone to guide how natural turf courses are managed. The impacts of prolonged drought, intense rainfall and poor drainage can be significant, affecting both surface performance and welfare. To meet these challenges, racecourses must be adaptive, flexible and prepared, with the right infrastructure in place, and teams who can make informed, confident decisions about their tracks,” the research institute said in a statement on its website.
Topics covered
The guide covers key principles of racecourse water management, including how soil and water interact, and the impact this has on drainage and irrigation, how different soil types influence irrigation demand, how to calculate how much irrigation water is required, why measuring soil moisture content is essential for informed decision-making and why strategic thinking on water availability is essential for racecourse operations.
The document can be found in the digital library on the Water & Energy page of our website.