Getting to have it both ways is a rare luxury. When it comes to your yard, though, taking steps toward a healthier lawn can also contribute to the health of your community.

According to Gary Grabow, an extension specialist at North Carolina State University, “There’s anecdotal evidence that people put 50 to 100 percent too much water on their lawns.” That excess irrigation damages lawns in the process. Over-watered grass may develop shallower roots – or worse, disease.

Know when to say when

That’s good to know, not just for the health of your lawn, but also for the good of the local environment. In recent years, many states and urban areas have faced rapidly decreasing water supplies. A 2005 study using data compiled from NASA and Landsat satellites estimates that Americans devote three times as much land to lawns as to the production of corn. Considering that as much as half of the average household water consumption goes toward outdoor irrigation, all that lawn-space adds up to a veritable deluge during the spring and summer lawn season, with much of it simply going to waste. And runoff from over-watered lawn spills into nearby bodies of water, sometimes spreading disease to local wildlife.

It may, however, by possible to stem that tide. Watering efficiently means not only lower bills and a better yard for you, but also a more ready supply of water for the rest of us.

If you’ve already kicked off your annual routine, start by gauging how much water you’re applying to your yard each time you water it. Before you turn on your sprinklers, strategically place open-mouthed containers with straight sides around the yard to catch a portion of the water. Very few lawn irrigation systems dispense water evenly across a landscape, so it’s important to get samples from different areas in the yard.