NASA scientist: California has only one year of water in reservoirs

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Mar 16, 2015

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NASA scientist: California has only one year of water in reservoirs

Four year's into an extreme drought, California's water store has sunk to historic lows. NASA scientist Jay Famiglietti urges mandatory rationing.

CUPERTINO, CA - JANUARY 30: Low water levels are visible at the Stevens Creek Reservoir on January 30, 2014 in Cupertino, California. Now in its third straight year of drought conditions, California is experiencing its driest year on record, dating back 119 years, and reservoirs throughout the state have low water levels. Santa Clara County reservoirs are at three percent of capacity or lower. California Gov. Jerry Brown officially declared a drought emergency to speed up assistance to local governments, streamline water transfers and potentially ease environmental protection requirements for dam releases. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Four year's into an extreme drought, California's water store has sunk to historic lows. NASA scientist Jay Famiglietti urges mandatory rationing.

Four years into an extreme drought, California has only about a year's worth of water stored in reservoirs. Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist with NASA's JPL, warned of dire consequences if the state doesn't take action.

In an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times, Famiglietti suggested mandatory water rationing and a fast-tracking of California's groundwater management plan, passed last year.