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Americans use about 7 billion gallons of water a day for landscape irrigation. The best way to control that use, is to reduce the NEED for watering in our lawns and gardens. A generous layer of mulch around your plants, say 3 to 5 inches,  will help prevent evaporation and retain moisture around the roots. When you mow the lawn, raise the blade a notch or two…shorter grass requires more water. While you’re at it use a mulching mower which will to return the clippings to the lawn….it feeds the lawn, slows evaporation and saves time mowing. When the weather is hot and dry don’t apply fertilizer. In these conditions it will actually aggravate the problems associated with drought and put more stress on plants. Finally, when you add new plants, choose those that are native to your region since they will require less watering.