Context. We will give you a reality check behind the numbers and talk about the impact of drought on your home and discuss the importance of rain and snow on the future of our water supply. And well give you a longrange look at where we go from here. But before we look at where were going, lets start with where we are. The map behind me is a Drought Monitor map. There is not one part of the state that is untouched from the drought. Everyone is gripped with bonedry conditions across the state. Many experts say we will likely end up as one of the top ten driest rainfall seasons ever. 2013 was the driest calendar year. And now were on track for probably about the third driest rainfall season, so, and right now most places in the state are 35 to 45 of normal. And what i want to do right now is go ahead and take a look closer into the bay area. What youre going to find here is some parts of the bay are doing worst than others when it comes to the drought. This lighter color of orange is the extreme drought, but for parts of the south bay, this darker shade of red, this is the exceptional drought. This has never been declared in california. Some of the driest conditions ever according to our drought mon monitor. Depending on how these cities get their water, some areas will fare better than others. Santa clara county gets some water from the sierra, some from local reservoirs and some from groundwater. They will be better in the long term than Sonoma County where most of it comes out of a dam which got very low before the heavy rain in mid february. While 2013 was one of the driest years on record for the bay area, that enough was not enough to create a drought as extreme as the one were seeing now. Nbc bay meteorologist rob mayeda explains how we got here. I think it was january last year. The rainfall just turned off. Reporter this is how we got here. Not only have we had a shortage of rainfall over the duration of the rain year, but weve had essentially very little rainfall through the latter half of last winter. Reporter an unfortunate turn in the weather parched the golden state. What made this worst was a drought that mirrored the 70s. An unusual phenomenon was taking shape. That ridge of High Pressure prevented storm systems from making their way into the bay area. Its also important to note those are some of the coldest and snowiest years on records for the east coast. So you can see nearly the exact same patterns back in the late 70s that we had this year. This keeps getting lower and lower and lower. Kind of in above average conditions through this water year, but the last two and a half have basically been way below average. And in lots of places the total rainfall has crept down lower and lower and lower. Reporter the impact on the bay area typically heading into the driest part of the year will depend on your primary and secondary sources of water. Doesnt depend so much on where you are in the bay area as it does if youre getting supplemental supplyiies from ste water resources. Those are more resilient to the effects of the drought than places fed strictly by local sources. Reporter and the quality of the groundwater may begin to suffer as levels drop. Whether its salts or nitrates or other things. Its a concern for agricultural users and drinking water. Reporter what if the drought were to extend to another year . The results for california could be quite dire. With this years runoff, well have close to 18 million acre feet of water available. 11 million will be consumed from summer into fall. Thats left with 7 million acre feet available. Thats a starting off point for next year much lower. We have nothing else to rely on except what the weather is going to bring us. And while the rain weve had over the past few weeks has been a welcome sight, our water future is tied to the sierra. It came in at 38 of normal. Nbc bay areas Christina Loran explains why snowfall is more important than rainfall when it comes to getting us out of the drought. Reporter the ski season started with uninviting conditions due to meager snows in december and january. Overall snowpack is still way below average. Were concerned about fire danger in the summer. Were as pragmatic as anybody. Were still able to ski. Reporter thanks to technological strides in snow making, tahoe ski resorts have been able to steadily make and preserve snow keeping large crowds content and most ski runs open. We have a whole month of skiing left at the mountains. Reporter ut aside from the ski resorts you might be surprised to learn that snowpack is absolutely critical to the bay areas water supply. The snow you see here supplies roughly one third of the water supply. Hetch hetchy is the primary source of water for four bay area counties. It is our reservoir up there in the mountain ranges. Reporter its the mountains that hold the key to our longterm water future. Were going to check back in with christina in a little bit. Shes going to take a look at some of the things you can do around your house to help save water and money. Plus from the president to the governor to our local city hall, deciding who gets what resources to help recover is big business and high stake politics. Well explain coming up. And right after the break, our sam brock offers a reality check on the state is in the midst of a worst drought ever. Learn what he found out when he we come back in two minutes. Really. So our business can be on at ts network for 175 dollars a month . Yup. All five of you for 175. Our clients need a lot of attention. Theres unlimited talk and text. Were working deals all day. You get 10 gigabytes of data to share. What about expansion potential . Add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. Low dues great terms lets close. Our best ever value plans for business just got even better. Now with free broadband for a whole year. It was only a few weeks ago that some experts described our drought as the worst on record. Now weve been fortunate enough to receive rainfall since then. So how historic is the drought now and more importantly, how will it impact us . Sam brock digs up the facts and scrapes away the hype about the drought in his reality check. This is not the worst drought that california has ever seen, but its right up there. As were about to explain, some communities in the bay have more stable Water Supplies than others. If the drought goes on for more year or more well all feel it. The water picture isnt perfect with basic ply coming into question. Reservoirs are running low. State resources from the san joaquin delta, the most important water resource in the state are strained and largely cut off for the time being. So how bad is this drought, and what risks does it pose to bay area residents . Now we still have Low Reservoir levels from a couple dry years previously. We havent got and lot of rainfall, but its not going to be a 500year drought this year. Reporter jay luns rejects the claim of an epic drought for now. 2013 14, represented by the blue line here is the third worst in californias recorded history. Thanks to a recent spate of storms weve made up some ground, and we could end up between fourth and sixth worst all time. But the drought will affect some folks in the bay. Yes, there are concerns in the San Francisco bay area, especially in the north bay. The north bay is dependent on local supplies, local res you are vors. Reporter Heather Cooley works and studies California Droughting extensively. She says the Central Valley has taken a hit, particularly regions dependent on just local sources, an example would be the north bay and its reliance on the russian river. At the worst, california had severe water shortages in 17 communities throughout the state including the north bay. That number has now been whittled down to two. But dont let your guard down of the problem could swell up again this summer, even in places like the south bay that draw from a variety of sources like the san luis reservoir. Im standing at the base of the reservoir and things look fine down here. You can see the water levels behind me seem to be fairly plentiful, but the thing you need to be paying attention to is not where the levels are now, but where they used to be. You can see the watermarks are about halfway up that ridge if not higher. Thats where the water should be. Lucky for santa clara residents, the area is protected by a number of factors, ground Water Supplies, diversity in sources and recycled water. Should the drought be extended beyond this year experts say everybody everywhere is going to be vulnerable. These types of droughts will be more frequent and intense. Our economy grows and water is limited in california. So we need to learn to live within our means. Here in the bay area, local Water Districts have not been immune from emergency measures. Mandatory restribss were passed in february through the end of the year. Alameda Water District joined in march. And Mountain View called for a voluntary 10 reduction. Should this drought continue another year you can expect to find a lot more names on that list. This drought is a statewide issue. And someone has to decide where the limited amount of water goes and who gets money to help with relief. And that makes the water wars a political fight. Larry, its great to have you here. You know, when people automatically think about water, they may not go towards politics, but its been a contentious battle for decades. Absolutely. They talk about gold in the state as being the thing that people worry about, no. It is water. You cant get new of it. The more our population grows, the more questions about how that water ought to be used. There is talk about how the water gets from the north to the south. How much does the state have control of the water in california . Thats a great question, because everybody thinks in sacramento they can turn the spigots off and on. Doesnt work that way. First of all, weve got the whole California Water project which was developed by the federal government in the 1930s. Then you have a california state project by governor brown. And then it gets more complicated because the state of california, 30 years ago, cut deals with private water owners which allowed them to own and control the water underneath the ground. They cant just tell them to move it away or to do something with it. So we have a very fractured political environment. It seems so cumbersome. It seems like some people dont know whos turning on the faucet and whos turning it off and how it all works. Is there a more efficient way in your mind of how this can be controlled . Youve studied politics and studied this for a while. Would there be a simpler way . This is a tough issue. Every one of these interests believes that the water theyre entitled to. And because of that, theres not enough to go around and nobody wants to yield. And just to tag on that, what do you think would happen if it was the whole government hands off attitude and we able to get the water from the back yard when we get the storms in Northern California and not send it to the south . It would be a disaster. Because we know the people have wells. And we know that they use these wells. And sometimes the well just run out. We already know there are communityiies right now that ha run out of water. You need some governmental entity to control this. Water is a precious commodity in this state. Its as precious as the air. And you need control over the air that we breathe and the water that we drink. And until we find a way for all sides to come to the table, its going to be very difficult to come up with some kind of comprehensive arrangement. Thank you so much. Coming up, from shorter showers to turning off taps, the simple steps you can take to conserve money and water. Lets face it, most people dont know how to choose a new dentist. Thats where we come in. Weve helped over 8 Million People find the right dentist, and we can do the same for you. Call 1800dentist today. Earlier in the program we talked about the longrange fewer tour of californias water supply being controlled in lark part by the sierra snowpack. With the total amount coming at about 30 of normal, we could be looking at several years of conservation requirements. Christina is back with the tips you can take around your house. When theres drought, everybodys short of water. The farmers, the cities and the fish. And we need to try and balance conditions as much as possible for everyone. So Everyone Needs to do their part to conserve. Reporter but before you can efficiently cut back on water usage, its important to first examine where youre using it most. For many people that will be most easily achieved through careful outdoor use. Because thats where a lot of the residential use occurs. Reporter in San Francisco, they are offering a number of Household Items for free like these and helping your family conserve the ultimate commodity. One of our trained technicians will come and do a very thorough indoor and outdoor assessment. Reporter checking for leaks in plumbing and limiting your time in the shower. Taking a shorter shower can be difficult, but there are other things to do to conserve, and you may not notice the difference. If you switch out your regular showerhead for a low know version youre saving up to a gallon of water per minute and its an easy switch. We get our 2 and 4yearold to take a bath together. They refuse to fake a bath together. And now they know they need to take a bath together. Reporter by cutting back on two loads of laundry, it can make a difference in your water bill and useless energy. Cutting back now can eliminate some of the current strain of the drought and protect our future water supply if Drought Conditions persist. All these come down to one fundamental, the precious commodity of water in a dry and arid state. The micro climate forecast Team Discusses the opportunities for us to pull out of this drought as well as the chances that the situation will get worse before it gets better. Well be right back. Finally tonight, what are the chances we get out of this drought . Or is it the new normal. Our micro climate team is here. We have our producer whos made it on tv today. Its obviously a very serious topic of the drew we want to get right into it. It seems like an obvious question, but do we think its going to get worse before it gets better . Its interesting. This is the best it should look right now, and youve seen the drought monday tosh maps and the level of exceptional drought stretching across the state. The state hydrologists are saying you can expect it to stretch and get worse. Its as high as it get and unprecedented in the Drought Monitor that youve seen that on a statewide level. With that said, you know, theres a lot of buzzwords out there. We heard the talk about el nino. Thats something people latch onto. Its all over twitter. Do we really think thats going to be a simple solution for next year . I know that answer, but i want to hear your take, christina. I think one thing that is a misconception for the general public is that its easy to forecast climate. That is nearly yes, maam possible to do. What i can tell you is forecasting weather on the short term is a lot easier than forecasting four months out or the following year out. If an el nino does happen it doesnt mean for certain that we are going to get ample rainfall. So its just one of those things that could work out in our favor. We cross our fingers and pray that it does. But we have to wait and see. I think that caution is great. Back in 76 and 77, we had that historic drought here in the bay area. It was also an el nino year. Just because were hearing about el nino, it doesnt mean were going to get a pile of rainfall. Its late too. This fire season were not getting the rain. What are the chances this is going to be a multi decade drought . I think if it does continue, i think people are going to get hit in the wallet. I think that food prices could go up. It takes a lot of water to grow alfalfa for the cows. Water prices will continue to go up. And when people have to start paying for it, i think thats when theyll really start to condition s conserve if they dont take action now. And it may force us into the alternative situation. Silicon valley has great innovation. But until it starts hitting in the pocketbook, you can be a green person, and were very green in this area, but once you start paying for it, then youre like, well, now i really have to conserve. We dont have normal in california. We have a lot or a little. We rarely have it in between. We can go years before we get the huge spike. You were talking about that earlier, what this new normal might be. Its all about your habits. If were not getting the rain that were used to getting, how do we readjust our habits. Weve been here the last few years and we havent got and lot of rain. Thats why we have this special, that we are trying to inform the public its about trying to change your habits, get to a place where we can have a new norm norm. No matter what we know, that forecasting at a year is at a 0 right now. Whether we get a lot of rainfall or not, its going to be a debate as we look at these erratic patterns happening across the globe. And as the California Drought continues, count on nbc bay fair yeah to keep you informed. For all of us at nbc bay area news, im jeff ranieri. Thank you for watching. [doorbell rings] hey. Hey. Whats this . Its uverse live tv. With at t uverse. You can watch live tv from your device. Hey. Hey. Anywhere in your home. [doorbell rings] hey. Hey. So you wont miss a minute of ncaa march madness. Call now to get a uverse bundle for the same great price for 2 years. Guaranteed. Hi, everyone, welcome to on the money. Im sue herrera. Stocks hit new highs, but what will the big jobs report mean to your money . Is the market rigged, and can the Retail Investor really get a fair shake . The frequency on trading, what it is and how y did matters. The new gig economy. 1 3 of americas workers are part time, but theres new technology that helps keep them on the job. Why freelancing may be the future. And the dreaded alternative minimum tax. How to avoid the amt and what to do if you get hit by it. 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