California Suffering Third Year of Historic Drought

Low water levels are visible from a boat ramp at the San Luis Reservoir on Sept. 5, 2014, in Gustine, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

California's cities cut their water use in July by 7 1/2 percent, or 17 billion gallons, a rare piece of good news as the state suffers through the third year of one of its worst droughts in more than a century.

The news comes from the latest report by the California State Water Resources Board, which said the drop in urban water usage was equivalent to nearly 26,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, or "enough water for 1.7 billion people each to take a five-minute shower."

The drop is especially welcome news for Californians coping with the impacts of both record heat and record drought. Nearly 82 percent of the state remains in extreme to exceptional drought, according to the most recent report from the U.S. Drought Monitor, released Sept. 11.

“Every action, from taking a shorter shower, to putting a lawn on a water diet, to replacing turf with drought-tolerant landscaping, contributes to every community’s water security," Felicia Marcus, chair of the state water board, said in a news release. "While this initial report is an improvement, we hope and trust that it is just a start."

Nearly 82 percent of California is in extreme to exceptional drought, as of Sept. 11, 2014.

(U.S. Drought Monitor)

Drought's tentacles have reached deep into life across the state. Hundreds of residents in the San Joaquin Valley have been the first to see their communities run out of tap water this year, weather.com's Laura Dattaro noted, while even the state's mountains are rising up, unburdened by the weight of water that previously held them down.

(MORE: Before, After Photos of Drought's Devastating Impact on California Lakes)

To combat it, Californians have been taking steps that might seem unthinkable elsewhere -- especially in Southern California, where some communities have cut their water usage by as much as 40 to 50 percent, the state water board said.

Turf removal has been one of those steps. In July, about 2.5 million square feet of turf was torn out of the ground from residential properties in Southern California, or more than 1,600 front lawns. Commercial properties there removed an additional 4.7 million square feet of turf during the same time period, an amount equivalent to about 82 football fields.

This week's report is the first in what will be a monthly series of data releases on water conservation statewide. Though the July cuts don't reach the 20 percent reduction goal California Gov. Jerry Brown called for in January, they nonetheless are a significant step forward.

But Marcus said much more remains to be done. "Countless Californians see and feel the effects of this drought and know that we still are facing a drought that may be far from over others still do not and can and should step up," she said in the news release.

"Wasting precious potable water today imperils our communities’ future," she added. That's especially important to remember, given that "current forecasts indicate that Californians cannot count upon a wet winter to alleviate the drought conditions," the news release points out.

See the full story at the California State Water Resources Board.

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Lake Mead in Historic Drought

A buoy warning 'no boats' stands on dirt at the abandoned Echo Bay Marina on July 13 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada. The marina closed last year after no businesses wanted to operate it, in part due to falling water levels according to the National Park Service. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)