You are now in California and the U.S. category.

California’s farm industry kept growing in 2015 despite a fourth year of drought, adding 30,000 jobs even as farmers idled huge swaths of land because of water shortages.

Preliminary estimates from the state Employment Development Department show farm employment increased by an average 7 percent from 2014.

One economist said the figures call into question agriculture’s claims that it hasn’t been getting its fair share of California’s water supply. Others said the growth in employment is a natural consequence of a shift to more labor-intensive permanent crops such as almonds.

In a further sign of the easing of California’s drought, farms and cities that rely on the State Water Project learned Thursday that they will receive an estimated 45 percent of what they requested this year.

Just three weeks ago, the SWP’s estimated allocation for 2016 was 30 percent. The allocation for 2015 was 20 percent. The state Department of Water Resources said the increased allocation reflects the healthy winter rains and snow, which have raised the project’s largest reservoir, at Oroville, to 5 percent above its historic average level for this time of year. Other key reservoirs, including San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, are still woefully low.

In a further sign of the easing of California’s drought, farms and cities that rely on the State Water Project learned Thursday that they will receive an estimated 45 percent of what they requested this year.

Just three weeks ago, the SWP’s estimated allocation for 2016 was 30 percent. The allocation for 2015 was 20 percent. The state Department of Water Resources said the increased allocation reflects the healthy winter rains and snow, which have raised the project’s largest reservoir, at Oroville, to 5 percent above its historic average level for this time of year.

Mild weather with daytime highs 5 to 10 degrees warmer than normal is expected through Saturday across the Central Sierra Nevada, and there’s a 50-50 chance of light rain in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties early next week, forecasters said Tuesday.

The same high pressure ridge that’s allowing clear skies, sunshine and a drying trend this week could be a factor in whether the next spell of wet weather tracks south far enough to bring more rain and snow to the Mother Lode.

Steady rains during the past week have restored California reservoirs to storage levels not seen in nearly four years, but swollen river flows into the Pacific Ocean renewed concerns from water users and elected officials about lost opportunities as billions of gallons of fresh water headed out to sea.

By Monday night, Sacramento River flows were expected to exceed 100,000 cubic feet per second—equal to dumping about 750,000 gallons of water per second into San Francisco Bay.