Forget the idea of a desolate landscape, withered shrubbery and a sea of sand when planning a water-conserving garden. The Scotts Valley Water District offers a tech-savvy, eye-catching, water-smart solution—a newly designed and highly efficient garden that sheds new light on saving green.

Water-smart, as its name suggests, is a smart garden that relies on environmentally efficient technology combined with drought-resistant plants, a lawn-less design and a straightforward landscape to help conserve water in a time of below-normal runoff and threatening drought conditions.

The garden, designed by Terra Bella's Nikos Lynch, uses features like bioswells and permeable pavement, a feature that allows runoff to trickle through its surface to help recharge water sources. A rocky area called a bioswell works with the pavement to recharge, retain and filter water for nearby plants, according to Haleigh Kleinman, water conservation coordinator for the water district.

The new technology used in the garden, such as efficient spray heads and weather-based irrigation controllers, brings water conservation to previously unobtainable heights. The new irrigation controllers rely on information downloaded from satellites about temperatures and soil moisture to regulate the volume of water used in the garden, whereas the spray heads are more water efficient than older models.

The largest step in conserving water is losing the lawn, which is this biggest water consumer in traditional garden set-ups, according to Kleinman.

"There is this general attitude of white-picket fence and perfectly manicured lawns, and we're trying to get away from that—we are trying to show that there are other options that can be appealing," Kleinman said.

The water-smart garden replaces the traditional lawn with drought-tolerant plants—native Californian chaparral that can go long periods of time without water.

Scotts Valley Water District offers rebates for customers who install cisterns or replace lawns with artificial turf, and provides weather-based irrigation controllers to those who convert their gardens into water-smart systems. People who want to use water-conservation strategies at home are encouraged to use moisture-retaining mulch in their beds and install efficient irrigation systems.

"You can have a water-smart garden, and it doesn't have to be the desert idea that everyone pictures," Kleinman said. "It can use different types plants and water-smart features and still be beautiful."