California is and will remain in a drought. California is incapable of solving its water issues. It has been raining for days - we have had about 8 inches in the last two weeks or so - and it is now raining heavily and will continue for several days - but it is going to into the ocean. Or rather, the water in the lakes which is being stored behind dams is now being released to the ocean so that there is room for the rain water pouring into the streams and flowing into the lakes. Agriculture interests have been trying to have more dams built for decades but it won't happen - all political. And it takes 10 plus years to get a dam approved and built and they have not even started. If there was sufficient water storage some of the problem could be alleviated.
But this is California - a state that is too big, partly a desert, and with too many diverse and competing interests. It is the cities vs the rural, north vs south, the farmers vs the environmentalists (Endangered Species Act). Some crops take an unbelievable amount of water to produce (one gallon for one almond, 20 gallons for one ounce of asparagus, 100 gallons per ounce of beef - or so it is reported). And environmentalists want to save every bug and fish that has ever been seen anywhere - or so it is reported. Both sides have detractors and supporters.
Many farmers have had to decide which of their fields or crops they will have to forget about. The artificial turf business is booming. Subsidies are given to homeowners who tear out their grass and put in xeriscape landscaping. The state's economy - which has a huge ag base has taken a multi-billion dollar hit.
There are mandatory reductions in most municipalities. And we all do all we can to save water. In the summer, we and most of our friends, family, and so on, really do try to save water - buckets in the shower to catch water for other uses and so on. But then it was reported that the mayor's LA resident used 2100 gallons a day for a while - so there's that. And we also stand around in amazement on the inability, or unwillingness, of the state to deal with it in meaningful ways - and its complicated by a mix of state and federal law and regulations.
I don't think LA residents get it yet - about how this water issue will move their way. But LA is in a desert - and tho it has been made green with water and lawns, that may all change.
There have been proposals to buy and pipe water from Canada and the Eastern US (where it floods) to California which, even if feasible, would require somewhere to store it.
I don't know what will happen, but I do know that the rain we get goes to the ocean.