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Taking a regional approach to saving water in California’s drought, state regulators suggest relaxing or dropping conservation orders for El Nino-soaked Northern Californians, while keeping in place strict rules for residents of drier Southern California.

Officials on Monday will launch a discussion about the best approach to saving water as California’s drought modestly improves, but clearly hasn’t ended as it stretches into a fifth year.

It looks like California will have to be extra resilient in the coming years, as a new study revealed that the recent droughts threatening the Golden State will become more common and will possibly bring more extreme dry spells in the future. This is due to a blocking ridge, dubbed the “Ridiculously Resilient Ridge,” that deflects storms from the state.

“The epic drought is far from over. These scientists show that the frequency of atmospheric circulation patterns that worsen drought conditions has increased over the long-term,” said Anjuli Bamzai.

El Niño has been little more than a cruel joke in Southern California this winter. The torrential rains haven’t materialized. Groundwater aquifers have been pumped to near-historic lows. A sizable reservoir two hours east of Los Angeles, built for $2 billion as drought insurance, is two-thirds empty, its boat launch closed.

Folsom Lake is 10 feet higher Sunday as compared to a month ago. “I have seen it go from Desert Folsom to Lake Folsom,” said Stacey Nieporte, who was visiting the lake Sunday from El Dorado Hills.

Folsom Lake now stands at 439 feet deep — that’s 110 percent of the historical average for this date, according to the California Data Exchange Center at the Department of Water Resources. There is now much more water to enjoy for enthusiasts like Mark Wilson, who just bought a jet ski two weeks ago to take advantage of the rising lake levels.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein visited The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board last week to talk about her drought relief bill and other topics. Here are edited excerpts:

Q: What makes it different this year that this water bill might happen?

A: I think it’s an accumulation of things. First is the population of the state. Today we have 40 million people. And we’ve got huge industries. Everybody concentrates on ag, but we’ve got Silicon Valley, which uses a lot of water. And we simply do not have an adequate water infrastructure.