https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-giant-reservoir-that-supplies-a-california-countys-drinking-water-is-nearly-empty/2016/11/13/cf617ef0-a29d-11e6-8d63-3e0a660f1f04_story.html
Lake Cachuma, a giant reservoir built to hold Santa Barbara County’s drinking water, has all but vanished in California’s historic drought. It reached an all-time low this summer — 7 percent capacity, which left a thick beige watermark that circles the hills framing the lake like an enormous bathtub ring. “We’re just amazed,” Keller said.
Under a sky that hardly ever delivers rain, the lake will only continue to fall, putting nearly a half-million county residents in an ugly situation. As early as January, the depth is expected to be too low to distribute water.
Barring a winter miracle of massive snows and rains extending into April, weather that has forsaken Southern California for more than five years, there will be “no water available next year from the reservoir,” said Duane Stroup, deputy area manager for the south-central region of the federal Bureau of Reclamation.
