Quite honestly the combination of drought and the trebling of our water bill sent us scrambling over the past two years.  Normally we used v. little water over 8 months of the years. We began decreasing our usage by turning off our two automatic irrigation clocks.  We put small mechanical timers on every hose spigot and hand operated nozzles on all hoses.  In selected planters we decided to see what no watering would do.  And, we began grouping plants by their ability to withstand drought or their requirement for regular water (a cherished Azalea, three old Brunsfelsia).  We took out a pretty but aging perennial bed and replanted it with natives until the drought breaks.  We also started an experiment with watering bags to keep newly planted trees alive and thriving and went from there to using them to keep favorite struggling vines alive.  We plan to experiment with using gray water from the washer to fill the bags if the need arises.  We are still experimenting with the best way to water our small orchard and fruit espaliers.  The older citrus really, really suffered last summer and the eldest of them have failed to recover.  We have run off channels on our roof and we are using garbage cans, under those where there is no planter, to catch water from what little rain we've had.