Aerial video reveals drought-ravaged lakes worse than imagined
Brown rings where blue waves used to lap at the shore. Dry docks lying on desiccated silt. Barren boat ramps. Trickles of water.
Those are some of the sights seen in the California Department of Water Resources' new aerial video shot above Folsom Lake, Lake Oroville and Shasta reservoirs.
Hopes to refill these reservoirs and restore water supplies to California towns depend on a strong El Nino ocean condition that could funnel rain-laden tropical air.
A strong El Nino this winter is being predicted by climatologists, but whether it will bring the strong moisture is not certain. The warmer the oceans get, however, the more likely California is to get torrential rain.
State Climatologist Mike Anderson said, "Unfortunately, even a strong El Nino doesn't correlate to a particular outcome for California."
The drought has continued for four years, bringing some of the driest conditions since the Middle Ages.