Australia's Millennium Drought

A flock of sheep drink from a dam at the edge of the dried-up Lake George, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. Australia's outback and surrounding regions are a vast, arid and semi-arid area that are perpetually on the verge of, or in the midst of, a drought. Farmers must constantly explore different ways of keeping their livestock hydrated, crops watered and themselves alive by making use of dams, storage tanks and artesian wells. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

Australia recently went through what was called the Millennium Drought, an extended period of drought that lasted from the late 1990s until just a few years ago.

It seems there is a new headline every day about who is to blame for California's water shortage.

Whether it's irresponsible car washers, those nefarious frackers, or of course -- almonds. But before Californians go nuts playing the blame game, water economists suggest there could be something else at the heart of the water crisis: the byzantine system of water rights.

Many go back to the days of the Gold Rush in California, and over the years the state has made more promises of water than it can possibly deliver.

Rebecca Nelson is a nonresident fellow with the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, and she lives in Australia, a country that is often considered the model for water management.

Australia is the driest continent on Earth, and it recently went through what was called the Millennium Drought, an extended period of drought that lasted from the late 1990s until just a few years ago.

Nelson speaks to host A Martinez about how the Millennium Drought changed water policies in Australia.