Officials in California are calling for an end to emergency drought restrictions requiring residents to make steep cuts in their water use after better-than-expected winter rains.

Local water suppliers said that ‘it doesn’t feel like an emergency anymore’ after rainfall arriving off the back of a record-breaking El Nino left many reservoirs at levels not seen since 2011. While regulators at the Association of California Water Districts admit some parts of the state are still badly in need of more rain, they say a sweeping state-wide order on water use is no longer needed.