"The severity of the drought has been compounded by poor planning, poor management, and population growth putting pressure on already overcommitted resources," says Gleick, president of the Oakland, California-based Pacific Institute, a nonprofit that conducts interdisciplinary research on water issues. "It is the third year of the drought, and we did not act in the first two years as though anything was abnormal."

That appears to be changing. This spring, water agencies across the state are taking dramatic actions to meet demands for water despite having less of it. Of the many large and small efforts, some are particularly creative. Here, National Geographic takes a look at five efforts across the state, from the Sacramento area in the north to