In recent years, many residents of the Des Moines metropolitan area have become increasingly aware of a challenge that often goes unnoticed until it affects daily life: water availability.
In 2025, Central Iowa Water Works implemented a lawn watering ban as elevated nitrate levels in local rivers threatened the region’s drinking water supply. For many residents, it was the first time they had experienced restrictions on something as routine as watering their lawn.
When nitrate levels rise in the rivers that supply Central Iowa’s drinking water, water treatment becomes more difficult and expensive. To help ensure an adequate supply of safe drinking water, local officials may ask residents to reduce outdoor water use, particularly lawn irrigation.
During periods of elevated nitrate levels, Central Iowa Water Works may operate a nitrate-removal system that can cost more than $16,000 per day to run. Water officials have also identified lawn irrigation as a primary contributor to summer water-demand spikes across the metro.
For many homeowners, these restrictions raise an important question:
How can we maintain healthy lawns and landscapes while using less water?
The answer may not be to water more often. Instead, it may be time to think about using the water we already apply more efficiently.
The Hidden Inefficiency of Lawn Watering
Most homeowners understand that grass needs water to survive. When the weather turns hot and dry, sprinklers often run longer and more frequently in an effort to keep lawns green.
What many people don’t realize is that not all of the moisture available to plants comes from rainfall or irrigation. Water exists all around us, including as water vapor in the air and within the soil profile.
According to Iowa State University Extension, most Iowa lawns require approximately 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week during the growing season. While that may not sound like much, the water adds up quickly across thousands of lawns throughout the Des Moines metropolitan area.
As temperatures rise and lawns begin to show signs of stress, the typical response is to apply more water. But what if some of the moisture plants need is already present in their environment?
This raises an important question: Is there a smarter way to help plants access moisture without simply increasing irrigation?
Why Water Conservation Matters
Water conservation is often associated with drought-prone regions such as the Southwest. However, communities throughout the Midwest are discovering that water management is becoming increasingly important.
Population growth, changing weather patterns, aging infrastructure, and water quality concerns all place demands on local water supplies.
When large numbers of residents irrigate lawns during periods of high demand, the strain on municipal water systems increases. This can contribute to higher operating costs, greater energy consumption, and increased pressure on treatment facilities.
While a single lawn may seem insignificant, the combined impact of thousands of irrigated properties can be substantial.
Small improvements in water efficiency, when multiplied across an entire community, can make a meaningful difference.
A Different Approach to Lawn Care
Traditionally, maintaining a healthy lawn during dry weather has meant applying more water.
But what if the goal wasn’t simply to add more water?
What if the goal was to help plants access moisture that already exists in their environment?
That’s the idea behind Hydretain.
Hydretain is a soil moisture management technology designed to help plants access moisture that may otherwise remain unavailable. By helping plants utilize atmospheric moisture within the soil profile, Hydretain can improve the efficiency of irrigation and rainfall.
Unlike fertilizers, Hydretain is not intended to stimulate growth through nutrient additions. It also differs from water-absorbing polymers that physically store water.
Instead, Hydretain helps plants make better use of moisture that already exists in their environment.
What This Means for Homeowners
For homeowners, the benefits can be significant.
Most people think of water only in its liquid form—rainfall, irrigation, ponds, or rivers. However, water also exists as moisture in the air. During an Iowa summer, high humidity levels are a reminder that the atmosphere contains a tremendous amount of water, even though we cannot see it.
Hydretain helps plants access moisture that would otherwise be unavailable to them. As humidity moves through the soil, water vapor is present within the soil profile. Hydretain works by helping convert that moisture into a form that plant roots can use.
This is one reason Hydretain performs especially well in humid regions such as the Midwest. During the hot summer months, when humidity levels are often at their highest, there is a significant amount of atmospheric moisture available. Hydretain helps plants take advantage of that resource.
For homeowners, this can mean:
- Reduced irrigation requirements
- Lower water bills
- Healthier turf during periods of heat stress
- Improved drought tolerance
- Better overall water-use efficiency
“Rather than simply applying more water, Hydretain helps lawns make better use of the moisture that already exists in their environment.”
Beyond the Lawn
The benefits of water efficiency extend well beyond residential properties.
Parks, sports fields, commercial landscapes, schools, and municipal properties all require substantial amounts of water throughout the growing season.
By improving irrigation efficiency, communities can potentially reduce water demand while maintaining the green spaces that contribute to quality of life.
In areas where water restrictions become necessary, technologies that improve water-use efficiency may play an increasingly important role in helping landscapes remain healthy while reducing pressure on public water systems.
Smarter Lawn Care Starts with Smarter Water Use
The water challenges facing communities like Des Moines remind us that water is a valuable resource that should not be taken for granted.
For decades, the standard response to a dry lawn has been simple: turn on the sprinkler and apply more water.
Today, a better question may be:
How can we get more value from every gallon we use?
Whether through improved irrigation practices, better soil management, or innovative technologies such as Hydretain, smarter lawn care begins with making the most of the water we already have.
As communities continue to face challenges related to water supply, water quality, and increasing demand, homeowners have an opportunity to be part of the solution.
Healthy lawns and responsible water use do not have to be competing goals.
With the right approach, they can work together.
Sources Used
- Iowa State University Extension – Watering Home Lawns
https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/how-to/watering-home-lawns - Iowa Public Radio – Central Iowa Water Works nitrate removal costs
https://www.iowapublicradio.org/environment/2026-01-12/nitrates-central-iowa-water-works-water-quality - Axios Des Moines – Lawn irrigation and summer water demand
https://www.axios.com/local/des-moines/2026/02/02/nitrate-crisis-iowa-water-lawn-irrigation