The drought cycle in California has seen an immense increase in the pressure being felt by residents of the state and its surrounding region. NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has been taking satellite images of the declining level of groundwater/aquifers in California, with the loss in water supplies shown here transitioning down from 2002 to 2008 and finally at their lowest level so far in 2014.  The greatest losses have been suffered by the Sacramento and San Joaquin River basins which include the fertile Central Valley – a large consumer of water used for agriculture.