It's still in the desert. It's a desert for a reason - it doesn't rain nearly enough. Population has increased 5x in the last 30 years, the resources are the same. The growth is unsustainable and eventually it will reach a point where it is no longer desirable, conservation or not.
This drought very well could last 30-50 years by the way. It's happened before. Thing is, nobody knows what to expect. And if Silicon Valley has to be uprooted and moved, that could be devastating to the economy for decades. I'm just hoping it doesn't come to all that and that it just rains this winter.
How do you know? 5x the people taking showers, washing clothes, flushing toilets. More tourists coming than 30 years ago and they don't get listed as "residents". Low-flush toilets are being installed everywhere and they use 30% less water per flush but have to be flushed 2-3 times.
I know because I read about it recently on a well known and respected website, (guess what, I can't remember which one). Water recycling has become more efficient % wise than the rise of visitors % wise, so they use less water now with 5 x more people visiting than they did 30 years ago because so much less is wasted. If it weren't for the drought they could survive OK.
Why do I feel I'm going around in circles?
It's 5x more people LIVING there, day by day. People taking showers, washing clothes and dishes, watering lawns, washing cars, flushing toilets. The drought is just showing they are reaching the limit. The city can only have so many inhabitants, after a threshold any disturbance in the supplies is strongly felt.