I know! I've always conserved water and the water board were shocked at how little we got away with. Now, I am using the washing up water on the garden, though some fresh as well. I think my efforts have done the trick and I can relax again.

Similarly to you, my garden is mostly full of native plants and I never watered or lost any plants in last year's heat. But I lost quite a few during the bitterly cold weather in the winter.