Because I assumed there was a small problem with the whole standing water thing:

The city is thinking outside the box — or, rather, inside the barrel — over water demand this summer.

A pilot program by the Department of Environmental Protection will hand out 250 rain barrels this month to Queens residents to collect storm water from rooftops for lawn-watering use.

The DEP estimates that up to 40 percent of some households’ summer water consumption goes to irrigation.

The barrels will be handed out in the lawn-heavy neighborhoods of Rosedale, St. Albans, New Hyde Park and Floral Park.