California Drought Since 2010, California, United States

The period between late 2011 and 2014 has been the driest in California history since record-keeping began. In May 2015, one state resident poll conducted by Field Poll found that two out of three respondents agreed that it should be mandated for water agencies to reduce water consumption by 25%.
The 2015 prediction of El Niño to bring rains to California is one contributor to ending the drought. In the spring of 2015, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration named the probability of the presence of El Niño conditions until the end of 2015 at 80%. Historically, sixteen winters between 1951 and 2015 have created El Niño. Six of those have had below-average rainfall, five had average rainfall, and five had above-average rainfall. However, as of May 2015, drought conditions have worsened and above average ocean temperatures have not created large storms.
The drought has led to Governor Jerry Brown's instituting mandatory 25 percent water restrictions.
Approximately twelve million Southern California trees have died from the drought.