. >> reporter: the last few years have been tough for california farmer jordan parsons. >> since 2011, we have had complete crop failures the last four years in a row. in terms of the irrigated stuff, we have seen acreage drop because our wells can't hold up. >> reporter: now for the first time in a long time, his fields are green, thanks to the el niÑo global weather system. near san diego where surfers catch pacific waves, technicians take readings of ocean temperatures at the end of pier. but while rain and snow have increased el niÑo won't wipe out the effects of years of droughts, scientists say. >> it's really quite unlikely. even if we had a normal strong el nino, we would be unlikely to erase our ways out of years of drought. >> reporter: officials say the 38 million californians need to keep conservative water. >> we can't say that the drought is over yet. we're still in the rainy season. we don't know how much we'll end up with, so basically the message has been -- people have really stepped up to plate and tried to conservative, and we want them to keep doing so. >> repor