WYLIE (1080 KRLD) - The scorching temperatures gripping North Texas will likely do a number on lawns throughout the region.
Be sure to do your due diligence before firing up your lawn sprinklers.
Most cities and water districts have restrictions on when and how often you can water your lawn.
Those restrictions vary by entity, so be sure to check with your city or water district.
"We have to plan for water for the next 50 years," says Denise Hickey, water resource and public education manager for the North Texas Municipal Water District. "And we know that our lawns is a place where we can actually save water."
For example, many entities prohibit lawn watering between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Hickey says those are not the best times to water your lawn anyways.
"It wants to hold in all of that moisture that's been received early in the morning from the morning dew, or for any precipitation, or if you watered your lawn late in the evening," Hickey says.
Water usage during the summer months tend to put a strain on water districts.
"Our homeowners overwater their lawns," says Hickey, "and during the summer months by EPA results, 60% of the water that we use in the summer is used on our lawns. 50% of that is wasted because we're either overwatering, or we have our irrigation heads going out in the street are not watering the lawn where we're wanting it to go."
Hickey says there's a simple test to determine whether your lawn needs to be watered or not -- and all that it requires is a screwdriver.
"If it goes in easily, then you don't need to add water," Hickey says. "If you have a hard time getting the screwdriver into the soil, then you need to add some moisture to that soil.
