I live in the 'high mountain' desert of New Mexico. The city lies atop a giant aquifer. For years now, that aquifer has been slowly containing less and less water. It's snow pack that relishes and benifits an aquifer the most, and we have not seen lots of snow here the past 5 or so years. The skies areas have struggled. This past winter we did see some nice snow fall, so we were in much better shape this past summer.
We still had our Green Drop or Red Drop days this summer (no watering at all on a red drop day) but at least we didn't have water rationing. In past years we could only water on certain days of the week based on your address, even/odd, combined with the green/red drop deal. If you were caught watering on the wrong day you were slapped with a nice little fine. Another reason why people have switch to Xeriscaping their yards.
We also have in place year round a water usage watch in place. I don't remember exactly how it works or how it was originally figured out, but basically if you use over a certain amount of water each month, the rate you pay goes up for those units. And if you have water running down the street, you'll get a nice fine for that if you get caught.
New Mexico is currently moving faster on finding ways to remove and purify water from the Rio Grande river that cuts thru the state. We just need to be sure to leave enough for Texas, as they use it as well. But there again, it's all based on winter snow pack up up north.
It's rare to see anyone washing their own car these days, it's almost like a taboo. The car washes all recycle the water so most people just use them anymore. I used to have lush and beautiful gardens in my front and back yards..now I just have rose bushes in the front and low water grass in the back. No more flowers that take water every other day. I cram as much clothes as I can into a wash load and I never use the dish washer. I just fill the biggest pan/bowl that is dirty with soapy water and wash dishes that way. (I live alone so there is never that many anyway!)
Is all I can say.
