worst one over the last 500 years. the governor says californians need to change the way they live but in a state with 1 1/2 million swimming pools and sprawling growth that s not easy. they have fined businesses for wasting water. now they re installing new water meters, so-called electronic ankle bracelets to monitor consumption. they know we re watching and you can t hide. fallout will soon tarnish some of the most spak tookular sights. yosemite will turn to a trickle by june and some state rivers will soon become creeks. even trees are dying. this is the new normal and we ll learn how to cope with it. the new normal in california very little rain and very hot weather. at the same time we face the extremes on the east coast.
scientists call what s happening here unprecedented. very likely the single worst drought of the last 150 years. and possibly approaching the worst drought of the last 500 to 1,000 years. reporter: the governor said californians need to change the way they live. but in a state with 1.5 million swimming pools and sprawling growth, that won t be easy. cities like long beach and businesses like mcdonald s have been fined for wasting water. now they re installing new water meters so-called electronic ankle bracelets to monitor consumption. absolutely, it changes their behavior very quickly. you can t hide. reporter: fallout from the crippling crisis will soon tarnish some of california s most spectacular sites. this will turn to a trickle by june. some state rivers will soon become creeks. even trees are dying. this is the new normal.
affects 64 million americans across the west. it s called unprecedented. the single worst drought of the last 150 years and possibly approaching the last drought of the 500 to 1,000 years. the governor says californians need to change the way they live. but in a state with 1.5 million swimming pools and sprawling growth, that won t be easy. cities like long beach have fined businesses like this mcdonald s for wasting water. now they re installing new water meters so-called electronic ankle bracelets to monitor consumption. in most cases absolutely. it changes their behavior quickly. they know we re watching and you can t hide. fallout from the crippling crisis will tarnish some of the most spectacular sights. the ribbons of white at yosemite national park will turn to a trickle by june. some state rivers will soon become creeks. even trees are dying. this is the new normal.
but in a state with 1.5 million swimming pools and sprawling growth, that won t be easy. cities like long beach and businesses like mcdonald s have been fined for wasting water. now they re installing new water meters, so-called electronic ankle bracelets to monitor consumption. absolutely, it changes their behavior very quickly. you can t hide. reporter: fallout from the crippling crisis will soon tarnish some of california s most spectacular sites. this will turn to a trickle by june. some state rivers will soon become creeks. even trees are dying. this is the new normal. and we ll learn how to cope with it. reporter: while the governor is tonight optimistically hoping that californians will reduce their water use by 25%, nothing is going to help these reservoirs except for rainfall and snowfall.