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
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