Crazy Gif's of California's lakes receding.
 

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5843534

This has got to be tough for you guys.

That's crazy! I was just talking to my dad this morning about how bad it is. He said Shasta is totally empty by Lakehead, there's nothing but dirt.

Yep. The lakes are bad. The Delta and Sacramento river are still good. Kind of weird driving over the grapevine last week and seeing Pyramid Lake full though. Just felt wrong.

Soon we will be complaining that the dams can't contain all the water, how mass runoff is polluting our bay water and how the overflow of groundwater is weakening our foundations.

^ we can only hope.

sad. but if life gives you lemons, set up a mega slip n slide down the huge exposed dirt hills.

I call media and political B.S....BIG time! "six crazy gif's"....yah....of TWO lakes...mostly Orroville.

In addition, didn't the DNR release something like 23 billion gallons of water to the sea to help "revitalize" the river systems and salmon spawning? WTF? How can you release that much water, not talk about it and then proclaim that we are in a horrid drought.

In addition, isn't there a bunch of drama over the delta tunnels and the revocation of water rights for the farmers in the central valley due to this "emergency".

All I can say is all this drought media stuff seems very suspect/shady. My gut tells me someone is getting rich off this and it's probably a politician and their cronies... while farmers get the shaft.

First, I have no idea about the validity one or another. However, it's disappointing that most of the photo's perspectives have changed - all of them making the change look more dramatic. If you want someone to believe your story don't do that.

So these lakes are full of water? This is just some optical illusion or photographic trickery?

Central CA has been in a 3 year drought and with little to no snow last year there's not much hope in sight. I read an article this morning that claimed Central CA is about a year of rainfall behind the normal level. From my understanding a lot of this started a few years back when environmentalists proclaimed that the pumps pumping water south from the Delta to Central CA were killing all the smelt which in result affected salmon and fishing. This provoked the powers that be to regulate and shut off pumps shorting water to many farmers and rivers through Central California. That combined with record dry spells through fall and winter, the lakes are as bad as they seem. You truly don't realize how bad it is until you see it for yourself and anyone thinking this water crisis is a gimmick, please drive through Central California. You'll find that not only are the lakes nearly dry, but many families have lost their land and business' in agriculture due to lack of water and being able to farm. It's one thing to not be able to wakeboard, it's another to not be able to feed your family.

We had super good rainfall in 2011 and 2012. Shasta etc were full or near full. The whole smelt thing has been going on for more than a few years. It's a complex problem that has gone on for many decades. In my mind, the smelt thing is a last ditch effort for NorCal people to hang on to whatever water they can to prevent salt water from entering too far into the delta as well as protecting the water rights of local farmers. Wouldn't that be something if you had farm land along the Sacramento river but couldn't get water rights because some farmer 300 miles south wanted to pump it to himself instead?

As far as people losing their land and business, they dug their own grave by building a farm in a relative desert. A lot of that land is corporately owned or farmed too. I don't think people realize how much California feeds the nation and world. This water crisis will definitely have a trickle down effect to the nation. Meanwhile, another hurricane last week in Mexico...

Yes but unfortunately that farmer 300 miles away just happens to be in the agriculture capital of the world where as the Sacramento area is not. Is it more important to fuel an area that produces the majority of the worlds agriculture, or keep water local in Sacramento and produce much smaller quantities. There's a lot of land around here that is not even farmable anymore due to lack of water. It's pretty sad and you don't realize it until you actualyl pay a visit to the area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Valley_(California)

Funny how most of the ag used to be nearer to Sac until the water projects. Seems wrong to take water from an area that produces it unless there's a surplus. if there's a surplus, take all you want of it. If not, too bad. You can't go build a house in the ghetto and then complain that you're a crime victim. I also think that more dams should be built just for this reason. It would give us a lot more staying power in the dry years. On the plus side, it's raining good out now. Woohoo!

My biggest gripe is the lack of transparency and the resulting "emergency drought" propaganda. I see this crap everywhere, T.V.'s, highway traffic signs, internet, etc.

Yes, the lakes are lower. However, no one is addressing HOW they became lower. Is it because:
Lack of rainfall? - Doubtful as to 100% contributing factor as Markj pointed out.
The DNR released 23 billion gallons of water to the ocean?
We sold a ton of water to LA and elsewhere?
We are refusing to fill up reservoirs due to fears of earthquakes and damn stability (Lake Anderson Reservoir is only allowed to fill to 70% capacity because of this).
The federal government revoked water rights and diverged water resources (this is something I merely heard and could be false).

My main point is, people are incredibly shortsighted and immediately go to "crap we should conserve water because we don't have it". When we should be really thinking "why don't we have water and how can we resolve the larger issue". If this is merely media spun hysteria "clouding" some political B.S. (which seems oh so common these days), I would like to see genuine consequences for those responsible for these issues (water management, politicians, etc.).