Photos: Severe drought marks California landscape

Views of the California landscape, dotted with artificial lakes, golf courses, shrinking water reservoirs and vast agricultural fields, amid the state's worst drought since 1977. Above, a tree branch on a dried lake bed at Lake Oroville during a drought in Oroville, California. Water levels at Lake Oroville could drop so low this summer that the Edward Hyatt hydroelectric power plant could shut down for the first time since being built in 1967.

A lone boat sits perched on a mound near Hensley Lake as soaring temperatures and drought affect livestock and water supplies in Madera, California.

TOP IMAGE** In an aerial view, water lines are visible on the steep banks of Lake Oroville on April 27, 2021, in Oroville, California. Four years after then, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed an executive order to lift California's drought emergency; the state has re-entered a drought emergency with water levels dropping in the state's reservoirs. Water levels at Lake Oroville have dropped to 42 per cent of its 3,537,577 acre-foot capacity. **BOTTOM IMAGE** In an aerial view, low water levels are visible at Lake Oroville on July 22, 2021, in Oroville, California. As the extreme drought emergency continues in California, Lake Oroville's water levels drop to 28 per cent of capacity. State water officials say that Lake Oroville's Edward Hyatt Power Plant might be forced to shut down the hydroelectric plant as soon as August or September if water levels continue to drop.

An aerial view shows Elizabeth Lake that has been dried up for several years. The region experiences extreme heat and drought conditions in Elizabeth Lake, an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, California.

An aerial view shows an almost evaporated canal with toxic residues in Salton City, California.

Pervisory park ranger Jennette Jurado reads the sidewalks temperature at 168 degrees fahrenheit in Death Valley, California.

Dead palm trees are seen near the beaches of the Salton Sea, California's largest inland lake, where the state's worst drought since 1977 has exacerbated an area already in decline, in Salton City, California.

An aerial view shows low water levels at Lake Oroville, the second-largest reservoir in California. According to daily reports of the state's Department of Water Resources, it is near 35% capacity, near Oroville, California.

The dried, cracked earth of a former wetland that was drained in an effort to prevent an outbreak of avian botulism which occurs in Tulelake, Calif. California regulators are planning to stop thousands of farmers from taking water out of the state's major rivers and streams. The State Water Resources Control Board considers the special order because of a historic drought gripping the western United States. The board will vote on the order on Aug. 3.

A welcome sign is seen along the California State Route 111 in Bombay Beach, California.

An end sign is seen in front of a beach of the Salton Sea.

An aerial view shows an almost evaporated canal, with toxic residues, in Salton City, California.

New grass being watered in a golf course in La Quinta near Palm Springs, California.

An aerial view shows tourists visiting Salvation Mountain in Slab City, California.

Livestock is seen as soaring temperatures and drought continue to affect livestock and water supplies in Madera, California.