Most homeowners overwater their lawns — to say nothing of their pavement — and have a love affair with a type of grass that doesn’t really belong in Minnesota.

That’s the wrap-up from a survey of 1,000 Twin Cities residents conducted in an effort to reduce the pointless lawn watering that is draining the metro area’s aquifers and was one of the major issues behind a legal battle over shrinking White Bear Lake.

Conducted by University of Minnesota researchers and the Metropolitan Council, the survey found that more than half of homeowners leave their sprinkling systems on the automatic cycle. That means their lawns get watered whether they need it or not.

Three-fourths of the systems had at least one leaking sprinkler head.

On average, residents watered 500 square feet of pavement — which doesn’t need it and increases runoff and water pollution.