In April, I wrote about our family’s decision to stop watering the front lawn. The column – here – focused on how drought conditions, global warming, new rules to protect endangered species and a shortage of money to build new water projects all but guarantee that Californians will need to find ways to reduce summertime water usage.

At the time, I calculated that we could save 1,800 gallons per month during the dry season between May and October – the difference between watering a lawn and watering drought-resistant landscaping.

It may not be a long-term solution, but when we simply stopped watering the existing lawn, we saved even more. In June, we used 4,000 fewer gallons of water than we did during June of 2008, and since we didn’t make other major lifestyle changes, we can credit most of the savings to our decision to let the grass go brown.

Btw, the reduction in water consumption in June saved us $18 – in part because we stayed below the threshold that introduces higher water rates.