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

Despite the fierce winter storm that brought an avalanche of snow to the Sierra Nevada last week, water officials say the state’s snowpack is far behind its desired level. Before the storm, comparisons were being made to record-breaking dry years. So why isn’t there more panic about a potential drought? The state’s reservoir levels and drinking water supply are in good shape, largely because last year was exceptionally wet, said Dave Rizzardo, of the California Department of Water Resources.

Water that once coursed through city sewers may soon find new life coming out of your home faucet. New regulations approved Tuesday by the California State Water Resources Control Board allow treated recycled water to be added to reservoirs, the source of California municipal drinking water. The regulations specify the percentage of recycled water that can be added and how long it must reside there before being treated again at a surface water treatment facility and provided as drinking water, according to the Water Board.

Storms like the one that have doused arid California in recent days are cause for celebration, but also for better conservation. The Sierra Nevada mountains received nearly six feet of snow, which was especially welcome in a dry winter. Snowpack in the Sierras had measured a quarter of its historical average.

California’s water regulator paved the way for the increased use of recycled water on the same day it instituted new pesticide thresholds for a river on the central coast. The State Water Resources Control Board unanimously passed regulations that hold local water agencies accountable for the amount of pesticides that flow from agricultural operations into the Salinas River. “I understand the benefits of pyrethroid pesticide use as it makes food production possible at this time,” said water control board member Steven Moore.

When it rains, it pours — and that has San Francisco water officials looking into charging property owners a new “storm-water fee” to help with the upkeep of the city’s aging sewer system. The first target will be the owners of vacant lots. “It’s a tax on rain,” fumed Jason Sanders, who was just notified that effective July 1, he will be assessed $31.46 a month for runoff on his vacant lot on Ashbury Street.