California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Friday lifted a years-old state of emergency caused by an historic drought, after a winter in which the state was pounded by torrential rains and record snowfall.

After five years of drought, in which the vast majority of the state experienced record-low rainfall, storms between October and March dumped an average of more than 30 inches of rain on the Golden State. It was the second-highest average rainfall of an year since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began keeping records in 1895.

The winter rainfall, caused by so-called “Pineapple Express” storms that march across the Pacific from Hawaii, dramatically reduced the percentage of California under drought.

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In September, 100 percent of the state was experiencing at least some level of drought, and 21 percent was experiencing what NOAA termed an “exceptional drought.” Today, just 23 percent is in drought, mostly in Southern California; none of the state falls in the category of exceptional drought.

In a declaration Friday, Brown lifted emergency orders in place since 2014. Emergency declarations remain in effect for four counties in the Inland Empire near Fresno where water shortages persist.

“This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner,” Brown said in a statement. “Conservation must remain a way of life.”

In place of the old proclamations, Brown issued a new order that will require urban areas to continue reporting water usage to the state Water Resources Control Board. California officials will also continue working to contain an outbreak of bark beetles that are killing trees throughout the state.

Brown’s office will ask California legislators to act on new legislation to implement long-term water conservation measures, part of a framework issued Friday by five state agencies.