According to the United Nations, over the next 20 years the supply of fresh water per person will decline by a third. A limited supply coupled with growing demand is putting increased stress on global water sources. You may note this growing shortage as ever-increasing water rates, or as restrictions placed on your use of water for non-essential purposes. One thing is manifest: Water conservation is a vitally important issue for everyone.

The following practices are easy to implement and will turn your yard into a wonderful, water-saving space that you can not only enjoy but also feel good about.

Though it may seem counter-intuitive, one of the best things you can do is install an automatic irrigation system. Hand watering and hose-end sprinkler watering is very inefficient. It is imprecise in its coverage, and most homeowners tend to manually water at the worst times of day, wasting up to half of the water applied either through run-off or evaporation. Automatic irrigation systems are designed for precision and efficiency, so the water you apply gets put to use, not lost down a storm drain.

Having an automatic irrigation system is a great start, but you also need to know how to use it, and that means understanding your soil as well as the water requirements of your lawn and plants. Make sure your system is properly set up and maintained. It is essential that your sprinklers be laid out with proper head-to-head coverage. This means that the spray from each sprinkler in a zone just reaches the sprinkler heads adjacent to it. Without head-to-head coverage you cannot create an even water pattern, and that means uneven, wasteful watering. Also be sure all the heads are perpendicular to the ground. Sprinklers that are not upright will not throw an even pattern for gallons of wasted water. Last but not least, check that you are not spraying water on the driveway or walkways. The alignment of sprinklers can shift over time, or get knocked off target, so check them at least once a year.

Over-watering is one of the worst water wasters. It causes run-off and can damage your plants. Some methods used to determine the correct amount of water to apply require a detailed understanding of plant physiology and local geology. However, there are two simple methods you can use.

To determine how long to water a zone, manually activate the control. Then, time how long it takes for run-off, or saturation, to appear. Do this a few times on different days and then set that zone to water for slightly less time than the average of all the readings you made. If your plants need more water than this allows, use the multiple start times feature on your timer. This lets the water soak in before additional water is applied.

Another technique is known as the "feel test." First, dig a hole about 8 inches deep at the spot you want to test. Next, pick up a handful of dirt and give it a squeeze. In sandy loam soil, if your handful just holds its shape but has no water dripping from it, it has about 50'75% moisture content. This soil is not quite ready for water yet. A crumbly clay loam that just holds together has less than 50 percent of its capacity and is ready to water. The rule of thumb is to water when the soil is about half depleted of water. A less messy alternative is to buy a soil moisture meter. This will tell you the exact amount of water in your soil'and keep the dirt from under your fingernails.

The following pointers will help you care for your plants better while saving water.

Trees
Cut turf back at least 1 foot from the trunks of trees. Watering the trunks wastes water and promotes rot on the tree trunk. Instead, create catch basins around trees, especially those on slopes, and water them separately from the surrounding plants. This minimizes runoff and allows water the time needed get down to the roots. Trees like long, slow watering. Mature trees generally need to be watered to a depth of 24 inches.

Lawns
Be sure to de-thatch your lawn if it is more than about 1/2 inch thick, and cut the grass no shorter than about 2 inches. This helps reduce evaporative water loss and increases drought resistance. Use grass cycling'using a mulching mower, cut the grass when it is dry and leave it on the lawn. This reduces evaporation and adds nutrients. Aerate your lawn yearly. It prevents soil compaction and greatly reduces run-off from the lawn.

Planting Beds
Use mulch. Two to 4 inches of mulch around your plants controls weeds and reduces evaporative loss, both of which save water. Use plants that are native to your area. Plants from "wetter" environments waste tremendous amounts of water and may pose a threat to the local environment. Use drip irrigation in planting beds and pots whenever possible. Drip irrigation is the most efficient watering method available.

While these suggestions are not intended to be a comprehensive look at the topic of water conservation, they can get you started down the right road. Further information is available from your local agricultural extension.