Wow, not may folks answering these days! Ok, I'm game.....
First off, check out the xeriscaping thread here on GW; lots of advice and knowledge. Don't forget a slow compost pile, which will eventually give you better soil for water retention, and teach you to mulch, for the same reason; again, the GW soil composting forum is great.

Very few herbs are drought tolerant. Some of these are well-established rosemary, lavender, certain types of thyme and oregano, and bay laurel, which are native to areas with little rainfall, like where I live. Basically, Mediterranean herbs. They get the water they need during the winter rains, and then tough it out through 90+ degree fierce sun until the next winter and the next drop of rain, 8 months or so later.
Your best bet is to make sure your soil is right for these (rocky and well drained), add top dressed compost a few times a year(I do it when it's dryest and the plants are looking stressed) and use "wise water". This means putting a bucket in the shower to get the water while you wait for it to heat up, put another bucket under the spout from your air conditioner, save veggie-only cooking water, and use it all to hand water right where it needs to go, in the late afternoon/early evening.

The more water-loving herbs should go right near your door, so the the last of water bottles, glasses of water from meals, the odd ice cubes, what's left in the cooled kettle, etc, that every household produces can go right where you need them, without fuss.

Unless, of course, you're into succulents and cacti, which I'm not! But for drought happy flowers, check out gaura.
Hope this helps......

All new plants need water in the beginning.They may be drought tolerant but that doesn't mean they can go without watering for a month.Container plants need more water than in ground plants who established roots that can search for water.

My hibiscus, Rosemary and lavender need a monthly watering here in Phoenix. They are only young,small plants, too!
Our temps lately have been 110 and everything else is wilting if I miss a day.
I never water my year old bougainvillea!

I've been working on getting rid of the front lawn for two years and almost five months. Only have two small patches (each about the size of a small bed) left to dig up the Bermuda Grass ....

I started with the borders, then worked my way in .... Have close to 100 different garden plants now, including many flowers, herbs, and a few vegetable plants: Purple and White Kohlrabi, Chinese Cabbage, Red Russian Kale, Southern Curled Mustard, Red Giant Mustard, several varieties of Swiss Chard, several kinds of Radishes, five or six types of Lettuce, Mammoth Sunflowers and Mexican Sunflowers, Carrots, Peas, Beans, Potatoes, Beets for the greens only, Tomatoes (Pear, Cherry and Roma).

I planted a package of Eggplant seeds, but nothing is coming up, so I need to get more Eggplant seeds ....

I've been letting things go to seed, so lots of plants will reseed themselves every year. More than 100 Tomatoes came up this year as volunteers! Over 200 Mammoth Sunflowers have popped up as volunteers. Other volunteers include: Swiss Chard, Stinging Nettles (makes great tea and good for greens!), Cosmos, Chamomile and more ....