City officials were at Roosevelt Golf Course to celebrate the switch from drinking water to recycled water in the course’s irrigation system. (photo courtesy of LADWP)

Roosevelt Golf Course, a unique executive 9-hole golf course which touts some of the best views of the city of Los Angeles, can also add water efficiency to its brag list.

On July 12, the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power celebrated the completion of the Griffith Park Roosevelt Golf Course irrigation retrofit project.

The project, which broke ground in September, switched the golf course’s irrigation system from using drinking water to recycled water for its 38 acres of turf. The celebration also commemorated the iconic golf course’s 55th anniversary and the grand opening of the golf course’s new concessionaire, Franklin Café and Market.

Roosevelt Golf Course is the eighth city golf course to make the switch when it comes to watering its course with recycled water as an effort to conserve drinking water. In total, there are now more than 1,000 acres of city golf course facilities using recycled water for turf irrigation, saving an estimated 690 million gallons of drinking water per year – enough to supply more than 6,300 single family homes in LA.

The irrigation retrofit project was made possible through an ongoing partnership LADWP and Recreation and Parks entered into in 2007 to promote water conservation and sustainable landscaping practices.

“We only meet our goals on climate responsibility and water resiliency when we work together,” said Councilman David Ryu, 4th District. “That’s what happened at Roosevelt Golf Course. The partnership between LADWP and our Recreation and Parks Department is just one example of how the city of Los Angeles is working to save hundreds of millions of gallons of water every year. I’m proud of this project at Roosevelt Golf Course, and all of the work we’re doing in Griffith Park and across Council District Four to conserve water, reduce emissions and build a more sustainable Los Angeles.”

Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Green New Deal has a target to recycle 100% of the city’s wastewater by 2035 and source 70% of water locally. City departments are committed to enhancing water efficiency at city facilities and have vowed to work together to identify projects to ultimately create more reliable and sustainable sources of water for Los Angeles.