Despite recent successes in water conservancy and summer rainfall in the state, the California drought is still “probably worse than most people recognize,” according to Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and juror on Archinect’s Dry Futures competition. Famiglietti spoke with José Díaz-Balart on MSNBC’s “The Rundown” earlier this morning, about the current state of California’s water crisis and Dry Future’s call to action for architects to respond.

While the drought has been receiving widespread media attention, both within the state and nationwide, it can still be difficult to convince people of the severity of the situation. “No snow in the mountains, reservoir levels are exceptionally low, groundwater levels are declining," Famiglietti told Díaz-Balart. "We’re in pretty rough shape.”

Famiglietti’s research on groundwater depletion began twenty years ago, working with NASA’s GRACE project (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) to track and develop computer models of groundwater supplies the world over. Using satellite data collected since 2002, Famiglietti and his team realized as early as 2009 that groundwater levels were declining, and began looking at the western US and California in earnest. “The drought is more of a climatological phenomenon, but it’s important to recognize that we need to sustain available groundwater to help us get through these periods of very little rain and snow,” Famiglietti told me over the phone yesterday. Understanding that the drought is a larger problem than green lawns and almond trees is elemental to alleviating the situation, and to educating those responsible for sustaining conservation efforts. “Helping people understand the trajectory that we’re on here in California, I think it makes the mandatory restrictions much easier to understand and much easier to swallow,” said Famiglietti.

It can still be difficult for those not directly affected by it to relate to the truly critical situation, as Díaz-Balart pointed out to Famiglietti (Díaz-Balart spoke to Famiglietti in Los Angeles from MSNBC’s Miami location). Especially after reports of rainfall in the state, it can feel like things aren’t so bad, but in reality it barely amounts to a drop in the bucket. “Psychologically, I think it makes a difference,” Famiglietti told Díaz-Balart, “but in terms of our overall water storage deficit, that hole is so so big, we need a solid seven or eight big storms per year (that usually happen over the winter) for the next three years to really get out of this horrendous drought we’re in.”

Besides continuing conservation efforts and staying informed, people must also take responsibility for their lifestyle during the drought, especially in regards to architecture. “Often there’s as sense of entitlement to water, and that’s somewhat promoted by the fact that our water management is very good” says Famiglietti, referring to the ease of which most Californians (especially in metropolitan areas) can access water. “We’ve really moved away in architecture from designing to the environment in which we live, and it’s because we’ve had a water-rich lifestyle and an energy-rich lifestyle, and that’s all coming to an end.”