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"Now in its fourth year, the drought in California has reached record-breaking levels of dryness, with more than half of the state under the most severe level of drought. In some of the hardest hit communities, taps have run completely dry, leaving hundreds of households with no access to running water. On April 1, Gov. Jerry Brown announced the first mandatory water restrictions in California history."

"As he put the state under an official emergency declaration last week, California governor Jerry Brown warned his state is 'facing perhaps the worst drought California has ever seen since records began being kept 100 years ago'. Wildfire dangers are increased, and some cities are close to running out of water"

"Critics of California's current water policy advocate more infrastructure spending on things like dams, canals, and desalination plants.  Many would also curtail water releases for the benefit of fish and other wildlife. Certainly, infrastructure spending would be better than wasting money on the governor's high-speed-train fantasy.  However, California cannot spend enough money on water infrastructure to prevent water shortages."

" Drought-stricken California has ordered the largest cuts on record to farmers holding some of the state's strongest water rights."

"Despite the recent rain in southern California, the area is still suffering from a historic drought. Homeowners who can't abide municipal water restrictions are trying lawn painting and synthetic grass - and lawn entrepreneurs are finding plenty of work: 'We all do it because we want to live in a beautiful neighborhood'"

"Water regulators in California voted on Tuesday to outlaw watering the lawn within 48 hours of a rainstorm, the latest effort to spur Californians to conserve as the state enters its fourth year of drought."

"Research shows that in some places the ground is sinking nearly two inches each month, putting infrastructure on the surface at growing risk of damage"

"Emergency regulations force some communities to cut water use by as much as 36% as devastating drought enters fourth year"

California's drought has produced a plot twist too singular even for Chinatown: farmers volunteering to give up a quarter of their water. Scores of farmers in the delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers made the unprecedented offer on Friday in a deal to stave off even steeper mandatory cuts.

"From California to the Middle East, huge areas of the world are drying up and a billion people have no access to safe drinking water. US intelligence is warning of the dangers of shrinking resources and experts say the world is 'standing on a precipice'"

"The Colorado River flows from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado through the southwestern United States. Along its route, the river passes through an elaborate water-management system designed to tame the yearly floods from spring snowmelt and to provide a reliable supply of water for residents as far away as California. The system is appreciated for the water it supplies, but criticized for the environmental problems and cultural losses that have resulted from its creation."

"Due to increasing demand for Colorado River water by the United States and Mexico, the final stretch of the Lower Colorado has virtually disappeared. It has been decades since the Colorado flowed all the way through Mexico to the Gulf of California. Major spring floods are a rarity, and the lower reaches of the river only flow after rainstorms or when agricultural runoff drains into the dried riverbed."

California has the unfortunate characteristic of being prone to prolonged and severe droughts at any time.

"The parched Golden State is experiencing one of the most severe water crises in its history"

The U.S. Drought Monitor, which publishes its colorful drought map every Thursday, this week is expected to show a slight decline in the dark brown parts of California suffering the most acutely from a drought that has parched the state four years in a row.