A newly released interactive California Drought visualization website aims to provide the public with atlas-like, state-wide coverage of the drought and a timeline of its impacts on water resources.
California has been experiencing one of its most severe drought in over a century, and 2013 was the driest calendar year in the state’s 119-year recorded history. In January, California Governor, Jerry Brown, declared a State of Emergency to help officials manage the drought.
The U.S. Geological Survey developed the interactive website as part of the federal government’s Open Water Data Initiative. The drought visualization page features high-tech graphics that illustrate the effect of drought on regional reservoir storage from 2011-2014.