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At first the biologists noticed something unusual about the dead fish washing up on the shore of the Salton Sea: All of them were fully grown, at least 7 inches long. There were no smaller fish among the carcasses pushed ashore by the lapping waves.

Then the biologists started seeing other clues in the birds. Western grebes, which normally arrive by the thousands to forage, were nowhere to be found. Thousands of Caspian terns would normally stop off to nest, but they were also missing.

The California drought is now in it’s fifth year, and a recent study says it won’t be over for years to come. The study analyzed California’s mountain snowpack and found that we’d need almost four and a half more years of winter storms to escape drought conditions.  But just few months ago, after a not-so-impressive El Niño winter season, California’s State Water Resources Control Board ended a year of mandatory water restrictions, that had required urban residents to cut their consumption by 25% statewide.

With conservation cutting into demand, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California used nearly 16 acres of land originally set aside for additional water production for a solar farm at its F.E. Weymouth Water Treatment Plant in La Verne. The $10.5 million solar installation produces 3 megawatts of electricity at capacity, or enough to supply one-half of the treatment plant’s power needs. MWD General Manager Jeff Kightlinger flipped the switch on the renewable energy project Tuesday, marking the ceremonial opening of the solar installation situated in two fields adjacent to the plant’s cleaned-water reservoir and only yards away from tract homes.

These are big shoes to fill: a man who knew that water was California’s new gold rush and who helped create the California State Water Project in order to quench the thirst of a growing California population and power up the state’s role as America’s biggest farm. He also oversaw the building-out of the freeway system for mass transit and was a leader who expanded the university level public education system, enabling Californians to grow and develop the native brainpower of Golden Staters.

The San Diego region stepped up to the challenge of unprecedented state water-use mandates over the last year by reducing water use 22 percent compared to 2013. That phenomenal effort allowed the region to store 100,000 acre-feet of water behind the newly raised San Vicente Dam for future use. Thank you to everyone who helped. State water-use targets have been lifted thanks to our regional investments in water supply reliability, but the work isn’t done. In fact, in late July, the San Diego County Water Authority launched its Live WaterSmart campaign to enhance our region’s role as a leader in water-use efficiency.