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

The absolute worst of the drought has disappeared in California. For the first time in three years, not a single area of California is considered in “exceptional drought,” the most severe category, according to a U.S. government estimate released Thursday. All told, 48.6 percent of the state is completely drought free, the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor reported, up from 42 percent last week. A year ago, only 5 percent of California had escaped the drought.

California is pledging to defend its actions to tackle climate change and fund clean energy. But it should also be positioning itself as a leader on clean water, writes Sara Aminzadeh of California Coastkeeper Alliance. Our new president said he was “committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies” such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the United States rule. He is already making good on that promise by removing all mentions of climate change from his new White House website.

Hammered with record rainstorms and blizzards, nearly half of California is no longer in a drought, and the rest saw dramatic improvement over the past week, federal scientists reported Thursday. Overall, 49 percent of the state is now drought free, the highest level since April 2013, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Drought conditions have retreated from nearly half of California after January’s onslaught of storms, the U.S. Drought Monitor said Thursday, and one large water wholesaler urged state regulators to lift restrictions on areas with adequate supplies. The board of directors of the San Diego County Water Authority voted to declare an end to drought conditions in its region and to call on Gov. Jerry Brown and the State Water Resources Control Board to rescind statewide emergency water-use regulation.

A series of strong storms over the weekend helped to relieve the drought-stricken lands known as Ventura County. Beginning on Thursday, Jan. 19, the first of three storms made its way into the county, followed by a stronger storm on Friday — a brief interlude on Saturday — and the strongest of the storms on Sunday through Monday morning. Areas of the county experienced small debris flows and localized flooding, with one family requiring rescue by the Ventura County Fire Department after their vehicle became stuck in flood waters at an intersection of Pleasant Valley Road in Camarillo.