California just entered its fifth year in drought. Experts say it has been the worst the state has seen in 1,200 years.

Dwindling reservoirs, shrinking lakes, and dried-up farm fields were everywhere last year — and despite some recent signs of recovery, the overall forecast is still ominously dry.

Just this month, the state announced that its snowpack reserves, which usually supply California's farmers and residents with roughly a third of their water, have finally recovered to normal levels, thanks to El Niño. Last year they lingered at their lowest level in history.

These photos, most of which are from May 2015, are an important reminder of the intense damage this season's drought has wrought: