There is plenty of water. It all flows to the ocean when it rains, because there is no (or little) means of capturing the runoff. They gripe about it every time there is a drought & it reaches “crisis” status. Then it rains & all is forgotten until the next crisis.
I’m sure it is been happening longer, but it has been the same since I moved to CA in 1981. Put a brick in your toilet. If it’s yellow, its mellow. If it’s brown flush it down.
Don't forget the NIMBY factor when it comes to building reservoirs, plus California's rabid "environmentalists" who think the world should never change and want to kill everyone but themselves to "save the Earth." Brown is spending all the state's money on a railroad to nowhere and providing welfare to illegal aliens anyhow.