Texas’s ongoing drought underscores the fact that water supplies are growing more precious. Underground water tables are declining or taking longer to replenish, posing environmental concerns for urban areas. Since the average American household uses an estimated 76 gallons of water per day to irrigate lawns, shrubs and gardens, many municipalities are taking a hard look at how much water is used for these purposes and at ways to adopt practices that promote sustainable water use, encouraging residents to use no more water than is replaced by rainfall.

Agricultural – specifically horticultural and turfgrass – research continues to focus on the development of new plant varieties that use less water and are more drought-tolerant. The key, though, is getting the public and municipalities to choose low-water-use and drought-tolerant turfgrasses and landscaping plants.

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