Central Valley California Aqueduct 1450a

Though this may look like a very boring picture, what is shown here is the key ingredient of what makes California what is -- the California Aqueduct that takes water from Northern California to cities in Southern California, as well as providing some of the irrigation for Central Valley farming. This is take from a viewpoint on I-5 (see map). Due to the drought, large areas that were farmed are now fallow.

Update 10/22/2014: The LA Times printed an article today describing the Westlands Water District that covers this area including the inherent problems with providing water to this side of the valley, and the use of crops that demand high levels of water:
www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-westlands-20141021-story.html#page=1