Undoubtedly one of the most important factors in maintaining quality Playing Surfaces is the correct management and scheduling of irrigation. On Sports Fields, learning the skills of irrigation management is more an art than a science. The major problem faced is Turf Managers are required to restrict water use, but at the same time keep the turf on the Field in a healthy condition.

Another debate relating to Sports Field irrigation is the use of manual systems v's automatic systems. As time goes by more and more facilities are going towards automatic systems due to their time and labor saving, along with the precision that automatic systems bring. However, they are more costly to install, and more expensive to maintain. On the other hand manual irrigation systems and still used by many facilities today as they are maintained and operated for a minimum cost, they rarely break down, they can be more flexible in relation to dealing with localized dry spot, however can potentially use more water, are more labor intensive, which generally doesn't allow watering at night therefore requires the playing surface to be closed to carry out irrigation.