Stunning drone photos over Lake Oroville show drought emergency in Northern California - Los Angeles Times
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Stunning drone photos over Lake Oroville show drought emergency in Northern California

In an aerial view, low water levels are visible at Lake Oroville on April 27
Low water levels at Lake Oroville on April 27 in Oroville, Calif. Four years after then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed an executive order to lift the drought emergency, the state has reentered an emergency with water levels dropping in the state’s reservoirs.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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Stunning drone photographs of Lake Oroville help illustrate the drought emergency declared by Gov. Gavin Newsom in two Northern California counties.

Water levels at Lake Oroville have dropped to 42% of its 3,537,577 acre foot capacity.

Conditions are particularly acute in Mendocino and Sonoma counties because the local water supply depends on rainfall in the Russian River watershed.

In an aerial view, a truck drives on the Enterprise Bridge over a section of Lake Oroville
A truck drives on the Enterprise Bridge over a section of Lake Oroville on April 27.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The second parched winter in a row has left the region’s reservoirs in even worse shape than during the severe 2012-16 drought. The major water district has warned that Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino could reach historically low levels by October.

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The picture is not nearly as dire in Southern California, which is mostly supplied by big federal and state water systems rather than local precipitation.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which imports water from the Colorado River and the north, says it has record reserves in regional reservoirs and groundwater banks — enough to carry it through this year and next.

Los Angeles, which is partly supplied by the MWD, similarly doesn’t anticipate any shortages.

Water lines are visible on the steep banks of Lake Oroville.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Houseboats are dwarfed by the steep banks of Lake Oroville.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
A truck drives on the Enterprise Bridge over a section of the lake.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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Houseboats on Lake Oroville.
Houseboats on the lake.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The Enterprise Bridge crosses over the lake where water levels are low.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
A boat ramp stops well above the Lake Oroville waterline.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Branches of trees and shrubs appear as the waterline recedes.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Trees burned by the recent Bear fire line the steep banks of Lake Oroville
Trees burned by the recent Bear fire line the steep banks of the lake.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
A bird flies over the low water levels.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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