Seems to me there's been like 1 really good year for rain in the past 10 or so.

So it's kinda all one long drought with a brief respite.

Too many people chasing too little water.

We need to implement permanent regulations, thoughtful approaches that call for sacrifice in the cities and more efficient usage in the fields. And the effort has to be continuous, for as you point out the periods of respite are too short and too quickly lost. What was it, only four years ago Oro Dam was so full it was feared it would collapse. Now it's a rapidly shrinking mud hole.