9 Photos that Show the Impact of the Great Drought in the West

Views of arid days in California, Arizona, and Nevada.

April 19, 2015 Emily J. Gertz

napa grape vines drought — Napa Grapevines in Dry Ground, April 2015

The California drought, which is entering its fourth year, has reduced water supplies to some vineyards. Smaller growers specializing in grapes for wines priced at $7 or less a bottle have been particularly hard hit, according to NBC News. Grapevines tolerate dry conditions better than some other crops, but they could eventually stop producing fruit if the water table drops too low or soil gets too salty from lack of rain.

(Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters)

Artificial lake Indio California — Artificial Lake, Indio, California, April 2015

Homes with green lawns ring a vivid blue artificial lake in Indio, the site of the annual Coachella music festival. But the land just beyond the neighborhood has been bleached by sun and drought.

(Photo: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Billboard for Artificial Turf California — Billboard Advertising Artificial Turf, Cathedral City, California, April 2014

This billboard near Palm Springs makes a hard-to-resist case for replacing a withered lawn with fake grass: Your puppy dog will love it.

(Photo: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

golf course in california desert — Golf Course in La Quinta, near Palm Springs, California, April 2015

Per-person water use in Palm Springs is 736 gallons a day, according to state data—five times the 152 gallons a day per person in Los Angeles. This isn’t because residents are especially thirsty or obsessed with taking showers; it’s because the region is awash in golf courses, green lawns, and backyard pools. Under the state’s recently proposed emergency conservation rules, desert cities that are heavy water users may have to cut consumption by 35 percent.

(Photo: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Boats grounded by drought at Lake Castaic — Boats Grounded by Drought at Castaic Lake, California, April 2015

At Castaic Lake, a checkmark-shaped state reservoir north-northwest of Los Angeles, swimming beaches will be closed all summer due to the drought. The lake is normally fed by melting mountain snowpack. But with the state’s snowpack at a record-setting low this year, the lake’s water level won’t recover anytime soon.

In 2014, Castaic Lake fell so low that a fisherman found a backpack, badge, and handgun stuck in the lake-bottom mud. They turned out to be items a federal agent had lost overboard in 1992, the *Los Angeles Times* reported.

(Photo: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Dry bed of Lake Casitas — Ducks on Dry Lake Bed, Ojai, California, April 2015

These ducks took a recent walk near a derelict boat ramp on the bed of Lake Casitas, near Ojai. The man-made lake has dropped halfway, reported the *Ventura County Star*—the lowest it’s been since the 1970s. In 2005, Lake Casitas was full.

(Photo: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell — Low Water at Lake Powell, Arizona, April 2015

A pale line along the cliff face reveals how low water levels have dropped in Lake Powell, behind the Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona. The lake, which is fed by the Colorado River, is below 50 percent of its capacity.

Around 40 million people in the U.S. West get water from the Colorado River Basin, which has been struggling with drought for 15 years.

(Photo: Jum Urquhart/Reuters)

Lake Mead Hoover Dam — Low Water in Lake Mead at the Hoover Dam, Nevada-Arizona Border, April 2015

Lake Mead, like Lake Powell, is part of the Colorado River Basin. Lake Mead is at only 40 percent of its water capacity, according to KQED Public Radio—the lowest level since the Hoover Dam was built in the 1930s.

(Photo: Jim Urquhart/Reuters)

Reverse osmosis machinery — Desalinization Plant Under Construction, California

Many California coastal communities are turning to desalinization plants (also called reverse osmosis plants) to ensure more secure freshwater supply in the future, reported NPR. But it’s not a perfect solution, as the plants are expensive to build and the process is energy-hungry. Environmentalists fear that the presence of more desalinization plants will encourage even more development in California, which is arguably maxing out on just how many homes, businesses, and farms its water supplies can sustain alongside its wildlife and natural areas.

(Photo: Mike Blake/Reuters)

Barn Owl in California — 7 Wild Animals Struggling to Survive California’s Extreme Drought

Humans are not alone in reeling from the effects of the multiyear drought now searing California and other Western states. Wilderness areas that many animals call home are seeing reductions in plant life and available freshwater. These tough conditions are forcing some creatures to range farther in search of sustenance—sometimes into urban areas. Others are simply dying off.

On the silver screen, the West may be known for the dry landscapes that serve as settings for cowboy shoot-’em-ups—tumbleweeds and cacti and the like—but in reality, verdant fields are being fallowed by farmers struggling to get by under a relentless sunny weather pattern, and once-green wild landscapes are drying up into vast swaths of tinder.

There is ample, visible evidence of the drought hitting California and other western states—such as the bathtub ring around Lake Casitas where the water level used to be. As of mid-April, the Ojai, California, lake was down to about 50 percent of its total capacity.

Here’s what it looks like in other places in the region.

Enter Photo Gallery

Napa Grapevines in Dry Ground, April 2015

Artificial Lake, Indio, California, April 2015

Billboard Advertising Artificial Turf, Cathedral City, California, April 2014

Golf Course in La Quinta, near Palm Springs, California, April 2015

Boats Grounded by Drought at Castaic Lake, California, April 2015

Ducks on Dry Lake Bed, Ojai, California, April 2015

Low Water at Lake Powell, Arizona, April 2015

Low Water in Lake Mead at the Hoover Dam, Nevada-Arizona Border, April 2015

Desalinization Plant Under Construction, California

7 Wild Animals Struggling to Survive California’s Extreme Drought