Aerial video reveals drought-ravaged lakes worse than imagined

Aerial view of Folsom Lake shot July 20th, 2015 showing devastating drought conditions. Photo credit: Paul Hames, DWR Photography Aerial view of Folsom Lake shot July 20th, 2015 showing devastating drought conditions. Photo credit: Paul Hames, DWR Photography Image 1 of / 25 Caption Close Aerial video reveals drought-ravaged lakes worse than imagined 1 / 25 Back to Gallery

Ugly brown rings where waves used to lap at the shore. Dry docks lying on desiccated silt. Barren boat ramps. Trickles of water.

Those are just some of the disturbing images California's Department of Water Resources team saw in an aerial tour of Northern California's Folsom Lake, Lake Oroville and Shasta reservoirs released this week.

Hopes to refill these reservoirs and restore water flows to communities that no longer have running tap water may hing on a strong El Niño ocean condition that could funnel rain-laden tropical air into Northern California.

A strong El Niño this winter is nearly guaranteed by climatologists, but whether it will bring the strong moisture is not certain.

Some years, in a strong, but not "very strong" condition, the rain has not materialized. The warmer the oceans get, however, the more likely California is to get torrential rain.

State Climatologist Mike Anderson told DWR, "Unfortunately, even a strong El Niño doesn't correlate to a particular outcome for California."

The drought has continued for four years, bringing some of the driest conditions since the Middle Ages.