The drought in California left the river that once ran through San Jose, Calif., America's 10th largest city, completely withered.
The Guadalupe River, in Santa Clara County, was once a source of civic pride for people in the area, housing trout, salmon, beavers and other forms of wildlife after years of restoration efforts, according to Chron.
During the last two months, the river slowly transformed into a withered husk of its former self. The drought turned large sections of the Guadalupe into stretches of cracked, grey riverbed, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Now the riverbed is completely gone, and fish and other wildlife that made the river home have either disappeared or died.
Leslee Hamilton, the executive director of the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy, believes the withering of the river is "truly heartbreaking." She said there was a significant increase in birds and wildlife in the area, and the timing of the event was devastating.
The Guadalupe River is in worse shape than many other bodies of water in California, but it isn't the only one devastated by the drought, such as Lake Badwater in California's Death Valley, according to CBS' San Francisco affiliate KPIX.
However, there is little hope for the river. Santa Clara Valley Water District officials warned that the reservoirs that could feed water into the Guadalupe River are only at 46 percent capacity. Meaning that, if they chose to use water from the reservoirs, then its water reserves would take a major hit — and there wouldn't be any guarantee the waters could replenish itself due to the drought.
Furthermore, officials predicted that even if they released any water, most of its volume would be evaporated by heat and the remainder would be absorbed by the caked soil, leaving the river dry again within a month.
