Covered Bridge is a daily news blog produced by VISTA Today that connects our readers with stories, articles, opinions, reports and more from around the web.

Four years into a devastating drought, California is taking action to protect what water they have. This week they began filling their reservoirs with sun-absorbing floatation devices, so-called “shade balls”–96 million of them.

LA Throws 96 Million ‘Shade Balls’ at its Water Shortage

According to Bloomberg:

“The shade balls of Los Angeles are 4 inches in diameter, hollow, polyethylene orbs made by XavierC, of Glendora, Calif.; Artisan Screen Process, of Azuza, Calif.; and Orange Products, of Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has now dumped 96 million balls into local reservoirs to reduce evaporation and block sunlight from encouraging algae growth and toxic chemical reactions. The balls are coated with a chemical that blocks ultraviolet light and helps the spheres last as long as 25 years. Las Virgenes, north of L.A., now uses shade balls, too.”

As the stunning videos began popping up on the web Tuesday morning, I was reminded of an old commercial–actually my favorite ad spot of all time. Check it out:

http://youtu.be/INzT3IJnF-k