The Central Valley Project is a major water-conservation development extending from the Cascade mountain range in the north to the semi-arid but fertile plains along the Kern River in the south. The state legislature created the CVP in 1933, but construction did not begin until the federal government assumed control of the project. The CVP's initial features were authorized for construction by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The funds for the construction of the first features of the CVP were provided by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935. Later, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation took over operation of the CVP, and the project became subject to reclamation law, under a 1937 act, with three objectives: to regulate rivers and improve flood control and navigation, to provide water for irrigation and domestic use, and to generate power. As time progressed and additional canals, power plants, and dams were built, the CVP's role in the region's water structure became more complex.