The drought has left swathes of California's landscape unrecognisable, with normally brimming lakes and rivers now dry and losses to the state's agricultural industry estimated at several billion dollars.
California Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin said the state can expect virtually zero water from the snowpack as it melts in the coming weeks.
"Water conservation must become a way of life," he said in a statement.
Only four years ago, the measured depth of the snowpack was three metres.