Yes you can. For 25 years I lived 125 miles sw of Tucson. We had tons of mesquite trees. Actually they were more like shrubs. Then I took a class at Cascabell, about 50 miles north that was right on the San Pedro River and they had mesquite trees that were 60 feet tall and looked like trees. They told me it was because they got enough water. So to answer your question they actually need a lot more water then they get