“Dry farming” is a thing again in drought-stricken California.

In a year with (practically) no water, here's something that was inevitable: farming without any water at all.

Small farms around the Bay Area are reviving an ancient technique that is just what it sounds like. Add "dry farming" to the list of ideas that could get this dry state through the worst dry spell in half a millennium.

The Hoover Dam's Lake Mead, the primary water supply for Las Vegas, has never had this little water to start June. Earlier this week, Fresno hit 110 degrees—the second-earliest achievement of that lofty mark in the 127 years that weather records have been kept there. New data on Thursday showed California has now gone five consecutive weeks with fully 100 percent of the state rated at "severe," "extreme," or "exceptional" drought. The state is getting by on meager reserves amid a multiyear shortage, and there won't be any more significant rain until the fall: The annual dry season has begun.

The last measurable rain in San Francisco was April 25, which is about a month earlier than normal. The coast gets most of its drinking water piped in from the Sierras anyway, so a dearth of local rainfall hasn't done much except make cars and sidewalks extra dusty. Jennifer Sedell, a student at the University of California-Davis, told me: "The only time I really see anything about it is when restaurants put up a note and say we're not serving water unless you ask for it."

And there are some upsides: "It was the best surfing season in years," said San Francisco resident Ramin Taleghani in March, "as guilty as I feel saying that." Persistent offshore winds—the same winds that trapped desert-dry air over California's normally snowy Sierras all winter—made for perfect waves on the coast.

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