The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), part of the Department of the Interior (DOI), is responsible for the construction and maintenance of many of the large dams and water diversion structures in the 17 states west of the Mississippi River. Reclamation was founded in 1902 to aid in the settlement of the arid American West. Today, Reclamation manages hundreds of dams and diversion projects, including more than 300 storage reservoirs in the 17 western states. These projects provide water to approximately 10 million acres of farmland and 31 million people. Reclamation is the largest wholesale supplier of water in the West and the second-largest hydroelectric power producer in the nation. Reclamation facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Operations of Reclamation facilities often are controversial, particularly for their effects on fish and wildlife species and because of conflicts among competing water users. The multipurpose federal Central Valley Project (CVP) in California is one of Reclamation's largest water-conveyance systems (see Figure 1 ). The CVP extends from the Cascade Range in Northern California to the Kern River in Southern California. In an average year, it delivers approximately 5 million acre-feet of water to farms (including some of the nation's most valuable farmland); 600,000 acre-feet to municipal and industrial users; 410,000 acre-feet to wildlife refuges; and 800,000 acre-feet for other fish and wildlife needs, among other purposes. The project is made up of 20 dams and reservoirs, 11 power plants, and 500 miles of canals, as well as conduits, tunnels, and other storage and distribution facilities. A separate major project operated by the state of California, the State Water Project (SWP), delivers about 70% of its water to urban users (including water for approximately 25 million users in the South Bay [San Francisco Bay], Central Valley, and Southern California); the remaining 30% is used for irrigation. Two federal and state pumping facilities in the southern portion of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers' Delta (Delta) near Tracy, CA, are a hub for water deliveries from both systems. Further complicating water deliveries of the CVP and SWP is a complex system of state water rights, in which some water deliveries are prioritized based on prior agreements with water rights holders that predate the CVP (e.g., Sacramento River Settlement Contractors and San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors). In recent years, parts of the West have been subject to prolonged drought conditions, including a severe drought in California that lasted from 2012 to 2016. Rain and snowstorms in Northern and Central California in the winter of 2016-2017 improved water supply conditions in the state in 2017. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, as of July 2017, about 1% of the state was classified as suffering from severe drought conditions and more than 75% of the state was drought-free. This figure represents a drastic improvement from July 2016, when 59% of the state was in severe drought conditions, and July 2015, when 94% of the state fell under this designation. Although by most metrics the drought in California has ended, debate regarding the possible detrimental effects of certain federal water supply-related authorities, as well as the federal role in water resources development more broadly, continues. Although some argue that a rollback of existing environmental protections should be only a temporary measure taken during times of drought (if at all), others contend that the drought in California magnified an issue that needs to be addressed, regardless of hydrological conditions. They also note that the need for expedited construction of new surface water storage exists throughout the West. Central to addressing water shortages in California from the federal and state perspective is the coordinated operation of the CVP and the SWP. Whereas the CVP serves mostly agricultural water contractors, the SWP serves largely urban or municipal and industrial contractors; however, both projects serve some contractors of both varieties. The operation of the SWP has been of interest to Congress because there is a federal nexus with respect to the CVP. In considering CVP-related questions, a key point of debate has been the extent to which recent delivery cutbacks have been due to drought, compared to other factors (i.e., environmental restrictions related to state water quality criteria and endangered species, among other things). Recent deliveries to CVP and SWP contractors are shown below in Figure 2 . Dating to the 112 th Congress, several bills were proposed to address drought in California (including operations of the CVP) and elsewhere. The 114 th Congress saw significant drought-related legislation enacted in the form of Subtitle J of the Water Resources Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act; P.L. 114-322 ). The WIIN Act included a number of provisions generally related to Reclamation, as well as several provisions specifically focusing on the operations of the CVP. Some, but not all, of those provision are scheduled to sunset after five years. In the 115 th Congress, multiple proposals (including those that were previously proposed but were not enacted in the WIIN Act) have been consolidated in H.R. 23 , the Gaining Responsibility on Water Act of 2017 (GROW Act). Although some of these provisions cover areas not addressed in the WIIN Act, others appear to overlap with that legislation. The House Rules Committee version of H.R. 23 included seven titles. Titles I-IV are for the most part specific to California. They include directives for the operation of the CVP and amendments to the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA; Title XXXIV of P.L. 102-575 ) and the San Joaquin River Restoration Act (Title X of P.L. 111-11 , the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009), among other things. Titles V-VII would be West-wide in their application and would include changes related to water supply development on federal lands and Reclamation's project development process. These titles also would include restrictions on the federal government's abilities to exercise reserved water rights. Supporters of the bill argue that these changes would provide more water to users from existing and new sources while safeguarding existing state water rights. Opponents believe that the bill goes too far in rolling back environmental protections, which, along with the effects of other parts of the legislation (e.g., potential new storage projects), could be detrimental to species and their habitats. Several of the bill's titles have been considered and/or passed by the House in the 115 th or prior congresses. Other titles are new or altered compared to language that has been considered previously. Based on past congressional debates, some provisions (in particular those that would preempt state law and make major changes to CVP operations and the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement) may be controversial. In considering these provisions, Congress may consider the trade-offs involved in proposed changes. The remainder of this report focuses on the most prominent provisions of H.R. 23 . It is not an exhaustive summary of the bill, but it provides relevant context and background for individual titles and sections. The report also provides a broad discussion of potential issues for Congress in considering this legislation. H.R. 23 was introduced on January 3, 2017. The bill includes a wide range of water-related provisions dealing with management and operations of the CVP, as well as Reclamation policy more broadly. Titles I-IV are for the most part specific to California, whereas Titles V-VII would be West-wide in their application. The provisions included in H.R. 23 are largely a combination of different sections of bills that were considered in recent congresses. In particular, many of H.R. 23 's provisions in Title I appear similar to H.R. 3964 from the 113 th Congress, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act. Other parts of Title I and the remainder of the bill appear largely similar to parts of H.R. 2898 in the 114 th Congress, the Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015. For the most part, provisions in H.R. 23 appear to be those from prior legislation that were not enacted in the WIIN Act. However, some of the proposed language in H.R. 23 appears to overlap with provisions that were enacted in the WIIN Act. This overlap could raise questions as to how these two pieces of legislation would be reconciled if H.R. 23 were enacted. A summary of each title of the bill is provided below. Title I would make numerous changes to the management and operation of the federal CVP, including amendments to CVPIA. Among other things, it would alter CVPIA to broaden the purposes for which water previously dedicated to fish and wildlife can be used (by removing the directive to modify CVP operations to protect fish and wildlife with dedicated fish flows and making this action optional); add to the purposes a provision "to ensure" water dedicated to fish and wildlife purposes is replaced and provided to CVP contactors by the end of 2018 at the lowest "reasonably achievable" cost; change the definitions of fish covered by the act; broaden purposes for which Central Valley Project Restoration Fund (CVPRF) monies can be used; reduce revenues to the CVPRF; mandate that the CVP and SWP be operated under a 1994 interim agreement, the Bay-Delta Accord; and mandate development and implementation of a plan to increase CVP water yield by October 1, 2018. Many of Title I's provisions appear similar to those introduced in previous legislation; in their previous consideration, some of these provisions were controversial. A brief summary of each section of Title I is provided below. Sections 101 and 102 of H.R. 23 would amend the purposes and definitions of CVPIA.