Several western states are experiencing varying degrees of drought, with much of the West experiencing severe to exceptional drought conditions. Drought conditions persist in all counties in California, with a majority classified as in either extreme or exceptional drought. Notwithstanding March rains, California is experiencing its third consecutive dry year, which has resulted in abnormally low reservoir levels, as well as low surface and groundwater levels. Current drought conditions in California and much of the West have fueled congressional interest in drought and its effects on water supplies, agriculture, and fish and wildlife. Water deliveries to the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and the California State Water Project (SWP), among others, have received significant attention during the drought. Deliveries to the CVP and SWP are sometimes limited due to federal and state endangered species regulations, as well as state water quality regulations. Such regulations often limit how much and when water is released from reservoirs and pumped from the San Francisco Bay and San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers Delta (Bay-Delta), and thus result in reduced water deliveries to project water users. Additionally, the amount of available water that is allocated to water contractors during drought is based on state water rights allocations, with "senior" water rights holders—those who were first in line to receive water historically—receiving first priority for available water. In drought years such as 2014, water contractors with rights "junior" to senior water rights might see their CVP water deliveries reduced to zero supply. Reductions to water deliveries from all of the above factors are controversial and are at the crux of management disputes among water contractors, environmental groups, fisheries interests, and others. Additional water delivery curtailments resulting from the drought have resulted in some calling for increased operational flexibility and limits on these environmental restrictions. Several bills have been introduced in the 113 th Congress to address different aspects of drought in California and other regions. This report focuses on Sections 4 through 8 of the Senate-passed version of S. 2198 , the "Emergency Drought Relief Act." The original version of the bill was introduced April 2, 2014, and went to the Senate floor, bypassing committee consideration, under an expedited rule, Senate Rule XIV. S. 2198 as introduced was largely a revision of a previous emergency drought bill, S. 2016 , the "California Emergency Drought Relief Act." Some provisions in S. 2198 as introduced were broadened to apply to states outside of California; however, the Senate-passed version of S. 2198 dropped many of these provisions. Additionally, S. 2016 contained numerous direct spending provisions that are not included in S. 2198 as introduced or as passed by the Senate. S. 2198 as passed by the Senate would direct the Secretary of Agriculture (added since introduction), the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to undertake numerous actions that would address emergency drought impacts in California and other states, by aiming to increase water supplies for California water users, prioritizing and expediting program funding for certain drought mitigation activities (e.g., projects providing drinking water and avoiding loss of permanent crops, and including grants for pilot projects increasing reservoir supplies in the Colorado River Basin), providing for emergency environmental reviews, and addressing Klamath River Basin water issues. The Senate-passed version of S. 2198 includes eight sections, whose provisions range from mandating maximization of California water supplies—consistent with laws and regulations—through specific project development, management, and operations directives and addressing project environmental reviews, to prioritizing funding for certain emergency drought activities under existing water laws and directing development of a comprehensive National Academy of Sciences study on increasing water supplies through control of an invasive plant species known as saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima). Senate-passed S. 2198 is narrower in scope than the bill as first introduced. Much of the bill focuses on specific issues related to water infrastructure and conveyance in California. For example, the bill would direct federal agencies to maximize water supplies and streamline environmental reviews while remaining "consistent" with laws and regulations. This policy approach is aimed at addressing drought, and in doing so, touches upon many long-standing and controversial issues associated with operations of the federal Central Valley Project (CVP), managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (hereinafter referred to as Reclamation), and the State Water Project (SWP), managed by the California Department of Water Resources. Key issues for Congress include whether the activities mandated and authorized under the bill would provide adequate supplies of water for irrigation of permanent and other crops and public health and safety needs, and whether such activities would hasten the decline of certain fish species protected under state and federal endangered species laws. While the bill would direct federal agencies to operate within existing laws and regulations, it mandates certain CVP and SWP operational activities for which long-term consequences on listed species habitat and water supply are unknown. The proposed provisions related to these projects and operations raise several additional questions that are noted throughout the analysis of S. 2198 below. The remainder of this report discusses key provisions of the Senate-passed S. 2198 . The discussion focuses on selected provisions (including subsections) that have received the most attention in congressional debates and in media and stakeholder accounts. The Senate-passed version of S. 2198 includes numerous sections related to emergency drought relief. As noted above, these sections range widely. The first three sections of the bill cover the table of contents, findings, and definitions. The final five sections of S. 2198 are the focus of this report. Some parts of Section 4 of the bill have received significant attention and are thus discussed in detail, including specific emergency actions related to California water supply management, such as in Sections 4(a) and 4(c)(4) through 4(c)(6). Other sections apply to other activities, such as studying the water supply effects of saltcedar and directing participation in and funding for pilot water projects in the Colorado River Basin (Section 4(b)(7)). Many of the bill's provisions would expire upon suspension of the state emergency drought declaration. The Senate-passed version of S. 2198 would also modify implementation of financial assistance for some water resource and water quality programs. These include the WaterSMART program under Secure Water Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10361 et seq.) and State Revolving Funds (SRFs) administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1231 et seq.) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-12). One such provision (Section 7) would direct the Secretary of the Interior to fund or participate in pilot projects to increase water supplies in the Colorado River Basin. Those provisions related to California water flow, infrastructure development and operations, and environmental permitting have one overarching theme: maximization of water supplies available for general agricultural and municipal and industrial demand while an emergency drought declaration is in effect—consistent with existing law and regulations. Other provisions under Title I would largely modify, expand, or reauthorize existing program authorizations. Section 4(a) would direct the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (together defined as "the Secretaries" under Section 3(4) of the act) to provide the "maximum quantity of water supplies possible" to CVP agricultural, municipal and industrial (M&I), and refuge service and repayment contractors; SWP contractors; the Klamath project or operations; and "any other locality or municipality in the State" of California, by approving, consistent with applicable laws and regulations, the following types of projects and operations: any project or operations "as quickly as possible based on available information" to address emergency conditions; projects that do not need congressional authorization; and projects that have followed procedures required by applicable law. This provision provides broad authority to the Secretaries to approve "any" project or operational change to address emergency provisions; however, limitations on this authority, provided in Section 4(b), prevent undertaking projects (operations are not addressed) that would otherwise require congressional authorization, or without following procedures required by applicable law. Projects that could be approved could include, for example, relatively small conservation or efficiency projects, or large projects not needing congressional approval that would expand storage or conveyance facilities to provide additional water to users throughout different seasons, or projects that adjust operations at reservoirs or in the Delta to increase water supplies. Additionally, this section would create the authority necessary for federal participation in state-driven projects intended to address the drought. California recently passed a law providing $687.4 million to address the drought. The intent of this section, which is similar to the bill as introduced, according to some sponsors of the bill, is to provide flexibility to increase water supplies and allow federal agencies to use water supplies during periods of increased precipitation. There are several questions or issues that might arise from this section. A brief summary of each is listed below. Section 4(a) raises the question of how agencies would provide the "maximum quantity of water supplies possible" to CVP and other contractors and, relatedly, how they would make such a determination consistent with laws and regulations. Implementation of the provision could be difficult and possibly contentious. For example, while "take" limits under the federal or state Endangered Species Acts may be possible to monitor, the effects of providing maximum water supplies on species survival and viability and water quality may not be apparent, quantifiable, or known for several years into the future. Conversely, agencies and water users may not agree that particular actions are providing maximum water quantities. Some observers already believe the agencies are maximizing water supplies to the detriment of species, while others believe the agencies are not doing enough and are advocating relaxation of some laws and regulations.