On February 16, 2012, the House Natural Resources Committee ordered reported H.R. 1837 , the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act. The bill aims to address water shortages experienced by some California state and federal water contractors, shortages that sponsors attribute to implementation of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act of 1992 (CVPIA, Title 34 of P.L. 102-575 ), as well as state and federal environmental laws (e.g., the federal Endangered Species Act, its state equivalent, and possibly state rules implemented to comply with the federal Clean Water Act). The bill also addresses many other issues associated with California water management, including making substantial changes to the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act (Title X of P.L. 111-11 ) and allowing early or accelerated repayment by private parties of outstanding construction cost obligations. The bill would make numerous changes to federal and state law regarding the management of water, fish, and wildlife resources in California. It also preempts "any" law (subject to certain state water rights priorities identified in Title IV of the bill) pertaining to operation of the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and the California State Water Project (SWP) and substitutes for those laws operational principles elaborated in a 1994 interim agreement among CVP and SWP parties and others, known as the Bay-Delta Accord. Because the CVP and SWP are operated in a coordinated manner, actions taken by either the state or federal government can and do affect the other's operations. The tensions among the different stakeholders in California water policy are particularly high given current low snowpack conditions and recent state and federal water allocations, which project that some water users will get 30% of their contracted water supplies and that many others, including many municipalities and senior water rights holders, are projected to receive 75% of their contracted supplies. In other drought years, some south-of-Delta contractors have received as little as 10% to 35% of their contracted amounts. Overall, some south-of-Delta contractors have received 90%-100% of their contracts in just five of the last 20 years. At the same time, fish populations throughout the Central Valley of California have dramatically declined due to water diversions and other factors. Fishing communities have also experienced significant losses as a result of salmon population declines. For example, a fishery disaster declaration was in effect for the California and Oregon coast in 2008 and through 2010. Per the disaster declaration, Congress appropriated $170 million to be used to compensate some communities for losses due to the closed fisheries. At issue for Congress is how to address chronic shortages for some in the CVP system without disrupting decades-long federal and state law addressing senior water rights and other priorities. Also at issue is to what degree Congress is willing to change or allow preemption of long-standing federal and state environmental laws, including state water quality and endangered species laws, and at what benefit and cost. For example, what are the tradeoffs embedded in the bill's preemption of state law and fish and wildlife protections as a means to increase the water deliveries to some irrigation contractors and municipalities? What will be the impact on the state's recreation and sport and commercial fishing industries and its long-term flexibility to manage water for new uses? Will potential benefits to some irrigators outweigh such costs? Will water remain in agricultural use or will new and less costly transfer provisions result in more water flowing to more affluent urban areas and water brokers? Will such an outcome create efficiency gains? These are some of the questions that arise in changes proposed by H.R. 1837 . Many of these questions remain unanswered. The remainder of this report provides a brief title-by-title summary of the key provisions and water policy changes proposed in H.R. 1837 . A legal analysis of the proposed legislation is beyond the scope of this report. Each title of H.R. 1837 addresses a different aspect of California water policy. Title I makes numerous changes to the CVPIA: broadening purposes for which water previously dedicated to fish and wildlife can be used; changing the definitions of fish covered by the act; broadening purposes for which the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund (CVPRF) monies can be used; reducing revenues into the CVPRF, mandating operation per a 1994 interim agreement; and mandating development and implementation of a plan to increase the water yield of the CVP by October 1, 2013. Title II directs the Secretary to cease implementation of the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Agreement, which is the foundation of the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act (SJRRS). The title also removes the salmon restoration requirement and makes other changes to the SJRRS. Title III directs the Secretary of the Interior, upon request from water contractors, to convert utility-type water service contracts to repayment contracts, and then allows accelerated repayment of those outstanding repayment obligations. (Irrigation and municipal & industrial [M&I] repayment obligations for the CVP for 2010, the last year for which such data are readily available, total approximately $1.2 billion.) Title IV outlines water rights protections for those with water rights senior to the CVP, including Sacramento River Valley contractors and addresses shortage policy for certain north-of-Delta CVP water service contracts. Title V declares that the unique circumstances of coordinated operations of the CVP and SWP "require assertion of Federal supremacy to protect existing water rights throughout the system" and that as such shall not set precedent in any other state. (There has been concern from some western states that the state and federal preemptions contained in H.R. 1837 might be used as precedent in other western states and threaten their allocation of state water rights.) Title I of H.R. 1837 makes numerous changes to the CVPIA. When enacted, the CVPIA made broad changes to operations of the Bureau of Reclamation's Central Valley Project. The act set protection, restoration, and enhancement of fish and wildlife on par with other project purposes (such as delivering water to irrigation and M&I contractors), dedicated a certain amount of water for fish and wildlife purposes, established fish restoration goals, and established a restoration fund (Central Valley Project Restoration Fund) to pay for fish and wildlife restoration, enhancement, and mitigation projects and programs. It also made contracting changes and operational changes. The CVPIA was quite controversial when enacted and has remained so, particularly for junior water users whose water allocations were ultimately limited due to implementation of the act. Compounding the controversy over water allocation are other factors that limit water deliveries—namely state water quality control requirements, variable hydrological limitations, the state system of water rights priorities, and implementation of state and federal endangered species and other environmental laws. Title I of H.R. 1837 addresses many provisions of the CVPIA opposed by irrigators, namely dedication of project water to address fish and wildlife purposes, enhancement and mitigation activities, water transfer limitations, tiered pricing formulas, and other restoration and mitigation charges. Title I of H.R. 1837 would amend the CVPIA in numerous ways, including the following: Narrows the scope and definition of fish stocks provided protection by the act (limiting coverage to those found in 1992, and eliminating coverage for non-native species such as bass and shad). Some stocks were already in severe decline by 1992, including winter run Chinook salmon, which were listed as endangered under the ESA in 1990, and some (San Joaquin River runs) had become extinct by the 1950s. Adds a new definition for "reasonable flows," which is arguably more broadly defined than in the CVPIA. Removes a qualified prohibition on new contracts, thus presumably allowing new contracts. Increases the maximum contract term from 25 years to 40 years. Directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to perpetually renew contracts. It is not clear if such renewals would be subject to negotiation or review (as they are now), or whether such direction would preclude further National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review and Endangered Species Act consultation on contract renewals. (This provision is proposed to be stricken in a manager's amendment, and replaced with language referring to renewals under the Act of July 2, 1956). Directs the Secretary to facilitate and expedite water transfers and prohibits environmental or mitigation requirements as a condition to transfers. Eliminates the tiered pricing requirement and other revenue streams that fund fish and wildlife enhancement, restoration, and mitigation under the CVPRF. Removes the mandate that the Secretary modify CVP operations to provide flows to protect fish, and adds the term "reasonable" to the authority to provide such flows. Also directs that any such flows shall be provided from the 800,000 acre feet of water in Section 3406(b)(2), which H.R. 1837 would allow to be used for purposes other than fish protection (also, fish and wildlife purposes would no longer be the "primary" purpose of such flows). Adjusts accounting for Section 3406(b)(2) water. It appears that state water quality requirements, ESA, and all other contractual requirements would need to be met via use of the (b)(2) water; however this is not entirely clear in the language. Also would direct that (b)(2) water be reused. (It currently is reused, but reuse is not currently mandated.) Mandates an automatic 25% reduction of (b)(2) water when Delta Division water supplies are also reduced by 25%. (The Delta Division is a unit of the CVP that serves water districts that often receive less water than under their full contract amount.) Deems pursuit (as opposed to accomplishment) of fish and wildlife programs and activities authorized by the amended Section 3406 as meeting the mitigation, protection, restoration, and enhancement purposes of the CVPIA, as amended.