Background
John Wesley Powell, often considered the father of reclamation, began, in 1867, a series of expeditions to explore the West. He saw that after snow-melt and spring rains, the rivers of the West flooded, releasing huge amounts of water, and that for the rest of the year not enough rain fell to support any kind of real agriculture. He became convinced that irrigation was the only means by which much of the West could sustain population. He mapped locations for dams and irrigation projects. He found widespread support throughout the West, especially through the droughts of the 1890s.
Several private and local farming organizations proved the benefits of irrigation projects. However, when it became apparent that a greater effort would be required, Representative Francis G. Newlands of Nevada introduced legislation into the United States Congress to provide federal help for irrigation projects. The resulting act passed on June 17, 1902.
Newlands carried the bulk of the legislative burden and had strong technical backup from Frederick Haynes Newell of the Department of the Interior. President Theodore Roosevelt cobbled together the legislative alliances that made passage of the act possible.
It was later amended by the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (Pub.L. 97-293, Title II) to limit corporate use of water and speculation on land that would benefit from irrigation. Reclamation includes draining, too.
Read more about this topic: Newlands Reclamation Act
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“... every experience in life enriches ones background and should teach valuable lessons.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877?)
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedys conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didnt approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldnt have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (19081973)
“They were more than hostile. In the first place, I was a south Georgian and I was looked upon as a fiscal conservative, and the Atlanta newspapers quite erroneously, because they didnt know anything about me or my background here in Plains, decided that I was also a racial conservative.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)