The horrifying effects of a drought in California

California has been suffering from severe water shortages for four years now. Experts say this is the worst drought to hit the state in 1,200 years. Drying rivers, rapidly shallowing lakes and lifeless agricultural lands... At the moment there is not even a hint that this terrible drought will stop anytime soon.

(Total 21 photos)

1. Exposed shores of a reservoir that were once under water. Millerton Lake on the San Joaquin River in Friant, a town north of Fresno in the California Valley.

2. The state's economic losses exceeded $2 billion, with 17,000 farm jobs lost in 2014 alone. In addition, food prices are expected to rise across the country.

3. A grove of dead almond trees in Coalinga, California Valley. Almond trees use about 10% of the state's water resource.

4. Once upon a time, these docks were located at the very edge of the water of Lake Millerton. In April, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown for the first time in history introduced a restriction on the consumption of drinking water.

5. The shores of the reservoir, once hidden under water, have completely dried up.

6. A paddle at the bottom of an almost completely dry Almaden reservoir near San Jose. Many believe that water shortages are partly due to overspending by companies that produce shale oil and gas in California using hydraulic fracturing.

7. Ski resort on Lake Tahoe - a record low amount of snow fell this season. The photo was taken in March 2015.

8. A dry irrigation canal running through drying fields in Los Banos. Residents of settlements were urged to reduce water consumption by a quarter. Those who exceed the norm face fines of up to $500 per day.

9. View of Pine Flat Lake, taken from a place that was once under water. The drought in California has been going on for several summer seasons. Every year it becomes more and more dangerous.

10. Tractor collects golf balls on a burned-out field in Palm Springs. Under new state rules from May 5, cities like Palm Springs, where residents use more than 600 liters of water per person per day, will have to cut their use by 35%.

11. Lake Oroville partially dried up in August 2014, when only 32% of its area of 1431 hectares remained.

12. That ended the snow on Lake Tahoe.

13. This pier on Millerton Lake on the San Joaquin River near the city of Friant was once in the water.

14. A farmer walks through dry fields in Los Banos - the area of the San Joaquin Valley between Santa Cruz and Merced.

15. The California drought, which has affected up to 98 percent of the state's residents, is in its fourth year. Some experts believe that the cause of the drought is that too much marijuana is grown in the region.

16. Irrigation water in a dry trench between rice fields in the agricultural city of Richvale north of Sacramento.

17. On the air of a local radio station, a scientist from San Francisco gave a new version of the origin of the drought, according to which a large area of planting marijuana "depletes the groundwater" in the region, which in one way or another affects the situation. In the photo: a water reservoir near residential buildings in La Quinta.

18. Dried channel in the golf course in La Quinta.

19. Water pours into a drying channel in Los Banos.

20. Water flows into a drying lake on a golf course in La Quinta.

21. Lack of rainfall and high temperatures in California could mean that the worst drought in recent years could turn into a full-blown disaster in the United States. Pictured: an aqueduct in Victorville, a city east of Los Angeles.