Aerial view of California's Folsom Lake, before the record drought dried it up. Photo: Google Earth Aerial view of California's Folsom Lake, after the record drought dried it up. Photo: California Department of Water Resources

By Chris Dolce
23 January 2014 (Weather Channel) – California’s reservoirs are severely depleted due to the ongoing widespread drought conditions in the state. As of 21 January 2014, 67 percent of California was in extreme drought [69% on 8 April 2014], the second worst category possible on the U.S. Drought Monitor [now 23% in “Exceptional” drought, the worst category]. According to the California Department of Water Resources, Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville are only 36 percent of capacity. Folsom Lake is just 17 percent capacity. Starting with Folsom Lake above, we’ve matched up recent photos of these three depleted lakes from the California Department of Water Resources with images from Google Earth that show the lakes when they were much fuller. [more]

Stunning Before and After Photos of California’s Lakes Depleted by Extreme Drought