Watering in winter

Having grappled with a heavy hose from the tap to the top of the garden - about 100 feet - returning twice to unravel knots and kinks and then finding that the high-pressure gun on the end of it didn't work, so popped it off only to have the hose flail wildly like a snake in its death throes spewing fortunately clean water all over me, I eventually managed to get a bit of water onto the restios.
It has been such a dry summer and late winter, with no particular rains as yet, that the restios are drying out and dying. These indigenous reeds were originally planted in an area that has an underground water source that is so close to the surface, a hole dug there immediately fills with water. It was a problem area and the restios were to suck it up and thrive. However, over the last few years, water tables have dropped and rain has been scarce and there is no longer a bog at the top of the garden. This could also be because of intensive housebuilding on all the spare plots towards the mountainside and so the water might have been diverted through disturbance.
Whatever the cause, it's a source of much sadness to see these lovely plants fade away. Watering regularly from municipal water defeats the whole object of planting waterwise, so I only do it when desperate times call for desperate measures.
In the meantime, the aloes are flourishing, and will form the main focus of gardens in this area for the foreseeable future if the rainfall pattern continues.