The state Legislature is expected to approve emergency drought legislation Thursday aimed at expediting $1 billion in funding for drought relief and response.

The four-bill legislative package is expected to be approved in floor votes in both the Assembly and Senate just seven days after it was unveiled by Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders at a Capitol press conference. The sequence of events is similar to the $687 million emergency drought relief package approved by the Legislature in February 2014, just one week after it was announced.

In-depth comparisons of California’s most significant droughts – past and present – are detailed in a newly released report from the California Department of Water Resources, DWR officials announced today.

In the face of record drought, increasingly destructive wildfires, and ongoing changes in California’s climate, ACWA has released a new policy framework, “Improving the Resiliency of California’s Headwaters” aimed at effectively managing headwaters areas such as the Sierra Nevada, the source of much of the state’s water supply.

The formal release of the document on March 20 came the day after Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders outlined an emergency drought package to mobilize state resources to deal with a fourth year of drought.