It isn't easy to comprehend the scope and severity of the long-term drought gripping California unless you see it for yourself.
In the images above, you can see just how low the lakes have gotten and how far hope has declined among the state's residents. They've spent several years watching water levels drop with little rain or snow falling to replenish them.
Let's examine a few of the areas profiled in the gallery and dive deeper into their struggle.
Lake McClure
Located in central California, nearly due east of San Francisco, Lake McClure is shockingly low. At just 8 percent of capacity as of March, according to reports by the Merced Irrigation District, local farmers have already been told they won't be able to count on any surface water from the lake this year.
Dry lakebeds are cracking and water levels have dipped dozens of feet below normal. Houseboats have been pulled from the water, and local officials say there might not be enough water to keep them on the lake this summer, KMPH-TV reports.
"We are going to need 3 good years, 4 good years of rain to get this up so we can enjoy it," boater Joe Cuchieri told KMPH-TV.
When full, Lake McClure holds 1 million acre-feet of water; an acre-foot is the amount of water it would take to cover an acre of land with one foot of water. Currently, the lake holds about 69,000 acre-feet of water and the water elevation drops one foot every other day, according to Sierra Sun Times.
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