Last weekend daylight saving time began. I look around and see trees are budding. The guy who cuts my grass has returned from winter hiatus. These are definite signs of spring.

But this spring will definitely be different. With the ongoing drought and restrictions firmly in place, there will be no outside watering. Dreams of velvety green lawns will not become reality this year. Those dreams may be replaced with a nightmare of increased water rates.

I understand the reasoning behind increased rates. It is behavior modification. City officials believe we must be whipped into water conserving shape by negative reinforcement.

I prefer the idea of North Raleigh resident Jeff Burns, quoted in an N&O story as favoring a tiered-rate system. The lowest rate could be for usage up to Mayor Meeker's desired 25-gallon daily limit, then the city could impose incrementally higher rates for higher usage.

Unfortunately the city computer system cannot support tiered-rate calculations. Bound by technology, I am seriously considering drought tolerant landscaping. Thinking about this takes my mind off of the money I spent a few years ago installing an irrigation system that I now cannot use.

Drought tolerant landscaping -- or xeriscaping -- has been around since at least 1978 when the Denver Water Department trademarked the term. This type of landscaping is more than a rock garden accented by a few succulents. It is a system of concepts applied to yield beautiful, environmentally appropriate landscapes requiring minimal additional water supply.

The landscape concepts are: plan and design, create practical turf areas, select low-water plants, improve the soil, use mulches, establish efficient irrigation and perform proper maintenance.

I think another principle of xeriscaping is "have money." It is not inexpensive to get started, but in the long run it seems worth the effort. Perhaps with the increased revenue the city will receive from higher flat rates, Raleigh could fund a program that provides financial incentive to homeowners who xeriscape. A tax write-off or subsidized soil enhancements would be a good start.

Minimally, the program could offer free plantings like the Raleigh NeighborWood program provided trees. Let's have some positive reinforcement alongside the negative behavior modification. After all, this is a different way of thinking and living for most of us.

Fifteen years ago I worked in Kampala, Uganda. There I had to adjust to not having running water. After years of war the capital city infrastructure could not support consistent residential water service. In our residence, like most, the "house girl" walked to a central pump, paid to fill two large jerricans with water, and lugged them back home. I quickly learned to not waste a drop of water.

That was 15 years ago. I have since comfortably repatriated to life in the United States. I am embarrassed to think how quickly I fell back to my old water-wasting ways of long showers and valuing a lush lawn.

I need to resume the conservation mindset I had 15 years ago and hold on to it. It will be necessary for the foreseeable future.

A blogger known as "North Raleigh Guy" explained on City-Data Forum, "It can take days for the water that fell ... to make its way through the watershed and into the lake. Meanwhile millions of gallons are constantly being pumped out of the lake.

"It isn't uncommon to see the level continue to go down even after a minor rain event as the amount of water being sucked out still outweighs the volume slowly trickling in from the vast watershed."

That is simple math; just like higher water rates. So in addition to changing my shower heads and shower habits, I will begin changing my environment to be drought tolerant. Low-water landscaping will take some effort and getting used to, but it may well be the wave of the future. No pun intended.