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One way they used to cope before irrigation was widely used was to trap the moisture in the ground. Packing it hard after the wet winter to form a crust slows down evaporation when it gets hot.
In the Canary Islands they use black volcanic dust which draws moisture up at night. Perhaps something black like weed membrane might do the same here. I noticed that a compacted path I dug up was damp 3 inches down but the cracked soil on one tended bed turned to dust.