Hi Ben, I do not wish to appear rude but why are you trying to have a lawn in a climate that does not support lawns?

if you desperately want a green area in those temperatures have you thought of Astroturf? (I'm being serious)

I agree with Stera!

It shouldn't be a problem to sustain a lawn where you live. Have you tried using spikes to aerate the lawn? This can be done with a garden fork but judging by the size of your lawn it will save you a lot of hard work if you hire a machine to do it.

It's very difficult to water a very dry lawn as the water won't soak into the soil and will remain on the surface. You have probably experienced this when trying to water a plant in a pot that has completely dried out. The only way to get the soil in the pot wet is to stand it in a bowl of water. This of course isn't possible with your lawn.

You said you irrigate the lawn, but the water will probably only penetrate the lawn to a depth of an inch if you're lucky this will be detrimental to the grass because the roots will go for the water and grow upwards instead of down.

So, aerating your lawn will improve air circulation and should help to improve drainage. Don't feed the lawn until you do this for the same reason. You could also try giving your lawn a liberal sprinkling of sand.

If this doesn't improve your grass then I suggest that you turn your lawn over and plant a more drought tolerant grass. Some years ago I spent a while in Florida and just about all the neighbours lawns where a broad leaf variety that I'd not seen over here. I think it was called buffalo grass and it seemed to thrive OK. I'm sure that there are other variety's of grass that are drought tolerant.

Don't take any notice of them. Where Steragram lives they grow leeks and Moon Grower thinks Astroturf grows on the moon. LOL

Thank you to everyone for the input, even those that do not support my wish for a green lawn. :) With small children, we need an area where the kids can run and play. Astroturf would be great, but I imagine it would be quite expensive. I'm trying to salvage what already exists.
Thank you, Myron, for your suggestions. I think aeration would be a smart idea. Is there a rule of thumb for how often one should aerate a lawn? We have been in our home for about 3 years, when the lawn was planted.

I think ideally, maybe once we move to a bigger home, I will do away with the idea of a lawn. Anyone had any luck with clover? But as it stands, I need to get the most out of what we have. Thanks again!

The rule of thumb for aerating a lawn is once a year in the early spring and apply a sprinkling of sharp sand to encourage root growth. Use a good weed and feed, keep it well watered and don't mow it too short if the weather is hot.