California wake-up call: Extreme drought will lead to migration exit and real estate collapse

(What will mass migration from California do to climate change mean for British Columbia?) A shocking 58 percent of the state of California is now in a state of "exceptional drought," according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. (1)

"The drought's incredible three-year duration has nearly depleted both the state's topsoil moisture and subsoil moisture reserves, according to Brad Rippey of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who wrote the Drought Monitor report," reports the Washington Post. (2)

All the usual measures are being taken to try to soften the impact of the drought: The Governor has declared a state of emergency, strict water conservation efforts are already in force, neighborhood "water cops" hand out stiff fines for excessive water usage, and people are scrambling to cut water consumption in every way possible.

These efforts, however, will not be enough. The simple, inescapable fact is that much of California is simply not sustainably inhabitable with the population densities it currently hosts. Los Angeles, in particular, is a city built in a desert and almost entirely dependent on imported water supplies for its survival.