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

The U.S. Drought Monitor says extreme and exceptional drought was reduced slightly in California last week and for the first time since the week of July 2013, there is no exceptional drought in Nevada.

“Little or no precipitation fell on the areas of dryness and drought in the Far West from the southeastern fringes of Washington southward through Oregon, California, and Nevada, but with the wet season winding down (especially in California), its impact on the long-term drought situation and the conditions being set up for the summer dry season are coming into better focus,” according to the report released April 21.

The 4 year historic drought in California has seen some major improvement this rainy season and millions of people are seeing slow but steady recovery. An update to the U.S. drought monitor came out this morning and declared a large area of Central California, from roughly Sacramento to Fresno, slightly improved regarding the drought.

They have many classifications of drought, but the top level drought is called D4-Exceptional drought.  At the beginning of the water year for California in October, 46 percent of the state was in top level drought.  With the latest update, we are now down to 21 percent.

In another sign that the so-called “Miracle March” storms in Northern California helped ease the state’s drought, farms and cities reliant on the State Water Project learned Thursday that they’ll likely get 60 percent of the water deliveries they requested from the state, an increase from a month ago.

As water rushed into northern reservoirs last month, state officials said contractors would receive 45 percent of what they requested for 2016 from the state-run delivery network that includes the California Aqueduct. They upped that estimate Thursday to reflect the continued strength of reservoir storage.

A study underway in the Russian River watershed is looking at ways to ensure flood safety while improving water supply reliability for farmers, fisheries and communities. Using a method called “forecast informed reservoir operations,” or FIRO, the study is testing an evolving strategy that uses advances in technology and science to forecast weather and watershed conditions more accurately, in order to anticipate runoff into storage.

The study is being watched closely by managers of other reservoirs, to see if the technique could be applied more widely in California and the West.

Water providers throughout California said Wednesday they want to decide how much water their customers need to conserve during the ongoing drought rather than take orders from the state.

Californians remain under strict state conservation orders that have caused many residents to take shorter showers and let their lawns turn brown even as drought conditions ease.

The State Water Resources Control Board held an informational workshop in Sacramento to chart the future of urban water conservation measures. Regulators are considering if they should toss out the restrictions or dramatically change them.