LOS ANGELES — People have long predicted that California could eventually collapse into the ocean following a mega earthquake. Now, an eerily similar true-life scenario is playing out -- but it's thanks to the weather.

The Gold Rush State has sunk more than 45 feet since 1935 – something the U.S. government calls the "largest human alteration of the earth's surface." But earthquakes aren't the cause. It's happening because of excessive groundwater mining brought on by drought, and geologists say all the rain in the world won't reverse cave-ins of dirt and rock in underground aquifers.

California is entering its fifth year of drought, with the past two years being the warmest on record. Several recent storms have dumped much needed water, but it's barely made a dent. It will take several years of rain to bring the state out of its crisis mode regardless of how many spring showers occur. If the state gets the intense rain storms that Californians pray for, they will produce floods as the water has nowhere to go. But if the drought continues, things will just get worse.

"If we have another four years of this [drought], then all bets are off. That would be devastating," says University of California professor Jay Lund, director of the Center for Watershed Science at UC Davis. "You have several hundred square miles of this and the only way to do something about it is to stop drilling. Then it will keep sinking for a year or two even if it's stopped."

In a harbinger of one worst-case scenario, the town of East Porterville ran out of water when its wells went dry. Residents are urged to drill new wells – at a cost of $30,000 each. Portable showers have been installed at a local church and bottled drinking water is delivered. Emergency state funding has paid for delivery of 2,500-gallon water drums to residents' front yards for washing and bathing. It's been that way for two years.

"We've not seen anything like this in recent history," Lund said. "The last time we saw this was in the '20s and '30s when we had the Dust Bowl."

Water has pitted the haves against the have nots, citizens against the farming industry and both farming and citizens against the government. The problems associated with California's drought are vast: infrastructure damage from the altitude drop; two million acres of dead farmland; disappearing wildlife; $2.7 billion in economic losses; 21,000 lost jobs; and rising food and utility costs.

Driving south on Interstate 5 from the Oregon border you will pass by many of California's largest lakes and reservoirs – the state's primary sources of water for its 39 million residents. The most massive is 518-foot deep Lake Shasta, a 21-mile maze of red rock canyons that normally hold water. But during the past several summers, the area has looked like a miniature version of the Grand Canyon with its stark red walls showing off an earlier era when free flowing water carved the land.

High above on the freeway bridge, instead of a massive waterway, the mighty Lake Shasta looks like a skinny blue ribbon.

Recent storms have brought some reservoirs back to their average levels but, according to a state website, many others are still below average as summer approaches. As lakes dried up, the water tap was shut off to farmers in Central California where 60 percent of the nation's fresh vegetables are grown. For the past two years, farmers have received no above-ground water and have had to rely solely whatever they can pull out from earth.

The state is in its second year of mandatory 25 percent water cuts. Lush green lawns that have been a staple of the California landscape are now allowed to go brown or die off all together. Some cities have moratoriums on planting grass in new developments. Desert decoration, like rocks and succulents, are the new trend.

The drought has caused neighbor to turn against neighbor as cities and water districts have initiated a snitch program for water wasters. One Northern California water district even posted a list naming and shaming 1,098 of its biggest offenders, like Oakland A's executive Billy Beane, who reportedly uses 5,996 gallons a day. Major metropolitan areas have mandated the number of days landscaping can be watered, costs are on the rise, districts keep close tabs on usage and anyone going over a certain amount is slapped with a hefty surcharge.

But for some, the drought doesn't appear to be a concern. Places like Disneyland and country clubs and hotels in Palm Springs continue to welcome visitors with lush foliage, fountains, reflecting pools and water misters. Celebrities show that they have the funds to pay whatever hefty water bill comes their way, apparently oblivious to conservation efforts as a CBS slideshow of several estates reveals.

"Wealthy people don't care, they will find a way [to use water]," said Republican state Sen. Jim Nielsen, a lifelong farmer and farming advocate. "But it's not the urban use that's sucking the state dry, it's the farmers," he added sarcastically.

Farmers use 40 percent of the state's water supply. Residential and commercial usage is 10 percent, and the rest is released into the waterways or used by the government. Federal and state water agencies share control over California's maze of lakes, dams, canals, rivers and the aqueduct – the largest waterway system in the world. Most of the controversy centers around the state's largest water intersection in Northern California, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

But while celebrities shell out for green lawns and farmers struggle to water their crops, an environmental showdown is taking place between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conservative lawmakers, farmers and residents who accuse the agency of wasting millions of gallons of water to protect salmon and an endangered anchovy called the delta smelt. Low river levels means an increase in water temperature, and the government periodically releases enough water to decrease the temperature so fish won't die.

Several state House and Senate bills have been introduced by both Republicans and Democrats regarding water rights and construction of new dams, but there hasn't been a consensus.

Republican state Assemblyman Devon Mathis, whose district includes East Porterville, criticized the state for not advocating for its citizens and hastening to tie them to a main water line.

"The fact that we have people in California today who don't have running water is just ridiculous," he says. "If California doesn't get its act together with water, this isn't just going to be a San Joaquin issue. This could be the city of LA. Or imagine the city of Pasadena without water going to a church parking lot for a shower."

But others say California's ecosystem itself is at risk. In addition to saving the fish, they say, enough fresh water needs to be released to keep seawater from infiltrating the area.

"Last year was the worst of the drought so far," says U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Marin County. "How much water was wasted because of the smelt? Zero gallons. It's the worst drought in anyone's lifetime that has caused this."

John McManus, executive director of Golden Gate Salmon Association, says salmon have been dying off in record numbers during the past several years and that has hurt fisherman and others who live in the area and rely on the fish for food.

"It takes three years between salmon eggs and becoming an adult ready to go into the ocean," he said. "We are seeing massive losses of fertilized eggs that got too hot."

But California's water problem is bigger than fishes or farmers. A famous photo on the U.S. Geological Survey website shows geologist Joseph F. Poland in 1977 standing next to a telephone pole where placards are placed up to 30 feet above his head marking various ground levels dating back to 1925. Poland began publicizing the disaster of disappearing groundwater back in the 1940s.

As the population exploded and farming acreage increased, the land collapse accelerated – one area dropped nearly 40 inches between 2007 and 2010. And in just eight months leading up to February 2015, it sank another 13 inches.

Recent photographs show that between May 2014 and January 2015 the ground sank up to 2 inches per month. An area around the California Aqueduct – a canal that brings water from northern to southern California – fell a total of a foot in the same time period. This has caused the concrete to buckle and one bridge now sits below the water line.

As aquifers are depleted, farmers are drilling deeper and deeper for water. In some places, the drilling is pulling up water that last saw sunlight during the Ice Age.

The San Joaquin River runs through the Central Valley, dividing the haves and have nots. Smaller family-owned farms line the east side of the river, while the west is home to the area's wealthiest corporate landowners.

The drought has prompted farms on the east side to produce costlier crops like almonds and pistachios – mostly imported to China and elsewhere – to make up for production cutbacks. Those two crops require 35 times the water compared to the traditional vegetables. Parts of some farms lie fallow, but still, farmers need to draw water for their fields, which draws the ire of the government and water rights groups.

The losses from fallowed fields affect the entire economy, not just fruit and vegetable pickers who have lost their jobs. In a scene out of the Great Depression, thousands of people line up for blocks every two weeks to receive boxes of food from the state.