California drought

Golf courses are water hogs, and that thirst is especially notable as California's drought grows in severity. At Pelican Hill, a top golf course near Los Angeles, water conservation is an obsession.

Farms in California use as much as four times the water consumed by cities and towns. Now farmers are on defense after the governor decided to mostly exempt them from new, sweeping water cutbacks.

More than 67 percent of California is experiencing "extreme drought" or worse. At Southern California's Lake Perris, dry conditions have revealed tractor tires and sunken boats, unseen for decades.

In Los Angeles, some see drought as a design opportunity. The Arid Lands Institute in Burbank is developing ways to turn the city into a "sponge" in order to take in water and store it for later.

This year was the third-driest on record for the state, but recent storms, plus new groundwater regulations, have given the hardest-hit agricultural towns a glimmer of hope.

Three years of severe drought in California is forcing farmers and ranchers to make some tough choices. In some cases, they're rethinking everything about their business and finding new opportunities.

The dearth of water in this state is showing no signs of easing. Officials have introduced plans to revamp the water rationing and distribution systems until the rains come. If they ever come.