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The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operation of the diversion, delivery, and storage projects that it has built throughout the western United States for
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
,
water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...
, and attendant
hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
power generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its stor ...
. Currently the Bureau of Reclamation is the largest wholesaler of water in the country, bringing water to more than 31 million people, and providing one in five Western farmers with irrigation water for 10 million acres of farmland, which produce 60% of the nation's vegetables and 25% of its fruits and nuts. The Bureau of Reclamation is also the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western United States. On June 17, 1902, in accordance with the Reclamation Act,
Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also *Interior ministry An ...
Ethan Allen Hitchcock established the U.S. Reclamation Service within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The new Reclamation Service studied potential water development projects in each western state with federal lands—revenue from sale of federal lands was the initial source of the program's funding. Because
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
had no federal lands, it did not become a Reclamation state until 1906, when Congress passed a law including it in the provisions of the Reclamation Act.


History

From 1902 to 1907, Reclamation began about 30 projects in Western states. Then, in 1907, the Secretary of the Interior separated the Reclamation Service from the USGS and created an independent bureau within the Department of the Interior. Frederick Haynes Newell was appointed the first director of the new bureau. Beginning with the third person to take over the direction of Reclamation in 1923, David W. Davis, the title was changed from Director to Commissioner. In the early years, many projects encountered problems: lands or soils included in projects were unsuitable for
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
; land speculation sometimes resulted in poor settlement patterns; proposed repayment schedules could not be met by irrigators who had high land-preparation and facilities-construction costs; settlers were inexperienced in irrigation farming; waterlogging of irrigable lands required expensive drainage projects; and projects were built in areas which could only grow low-value crops. In 1923 the agency was renamed the "Bureau of Reclamation". In 1924, however, in the face of increasing settler unrest and financial woes, the "Fact Finder's Report" spotlighted major problematic issues; the Fact Finders Act in late 1924 sought to resolve some of these problems. In 1928 Congress authorized the Boulder Canyon (
Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on S ...
) Project, and large appropriations began, for the first time, to flow to Reclamation from the general funds of the United States. The authorization came only after a hard-fought debate about the pros and cons of public power versus private power. The heyday of Reclamation construction of water facilities occurred during the Depression and the 35 years after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. From 1941 to 1947, Civilian Public Service labor was used to carry on projects otherwise interrupted by the war effort. The last major authorization for construction projects occurred in the late 1960s, while a parallel evolution and development of the American environmental movement began to result in strong opposition to water development projects. Even the 1976 failure of Teton Dam as it filled for the first time did not diminish Reclamation's strong international reputation in water development circles. However, this first and only failure of a major Reclamation Bureau dam led to subsequent strengthening of its dam-safety program to avoid similar problems. Even so, the failure of Teton Dam, the environmental movement, and the announcement of
President Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...
's "hit list" on water projects profoundly affected the direction of Reclamation's programs and activities. Reclamation operates about 180 projects in the 17 western states. The total Reclamation investment for completed project facilities in September 1992 was about $11 billion. Reclamation projects provide agricultural, household, and industrial water to about one‑third of the population of the American West. About 5% of the land area of the West is irrigated, and Reclamation provides water to about one-fifth of that area, some 9,120,000 acres (37,000 km2) in 1992. Reclamation is a major American generator of
electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describe ...
. , Reclamation had 58 power plants on‑line and generated 125,000 GJ of electricity. From 1988 to 1994, Reclamation underwent major reorganization as construction on projects authorized in the 1960s and earlier drew to an end. Reclamation wrote that "The arid West essentially has been reclaimed. The major rivers have been harnessed and facilities are in place or are being completed to meet the most pressing current water demands and those of the immediate future". Emphasis in Reclamation programs shifted from construction to operation and maintenance of existing facilities. Reclamation's redefined official mission is to "manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public". In redirecting its programs and responsibilities, Reclamation substantially reduced its staff levels and budgets but remains a significant federal agency in the West. On October 1, 2017 the Hoover Dam Police Department was closed and the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...
took over law enforcement duties for the Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam Police Department existed for more than 80 years.


Leadership

Reclamation commissioners that have had a strong impact and molding of the Bureau have included Elwood Mead, Michael W. Straus, and Floyd Dominy, with the latter two being public-power boosters who ran the Bureau during its heyday. Mead guided the bureau during the development, planning, and construction of the Hoover Dam, the United States' first multiple-purpose dam.
John W. Keys John Walton Keys III (March 25, 1942 – May 30, 2008) was the Commissioner of the United States Bureau of Reclamation from 2001 to 2006. He was also a college football official for 20 years in the Big Sky Conference. Early life and education K ...
, the 16th Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation who served from July 2001 to April 2006, was killed two years after his retirement on May 30, 2008, when the airplane he was piloting crashed in
Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their ...
,
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
. On June 26, 2017, President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
nominated Brenda Burman to serve as the Commissioner of the United States Bureau of Reclamation. She was confirmed by the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...
on November 16, 2017. Burman is the first woman to ever lead the Bureau of Reclamation. David Murillo was serving as the acting commissioner of the bureau. Burman resigned on January 20th after the inauguration of the Biden Administration. The current Commissioner is Camille Calimlim Touton, the first Filipino American to head the agency. She was confirmed by the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...
on November 4, 2021.


List of reclamation projects

* Animas-La Plata Water Project *
Boise Project The Diversion Dam and Deer Flat Embankments is the collective name given in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places program to a set of three dams in the western United States in southwestern Idaho, near Boise and Nampa. The dams are comp ...
*
Central Arizona Project Aqueduct The Central Arizona Project (CAP) is a 336 mi (541 km) diversion canal in Arizona in the southern United States. The aqueduct diverts water from the Colorado River to the Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge south portion of Lake Havasu n ...
*
Central Utah Project The Central Utah Project is a US federal water project that was authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956, as a participating project. In general, the Central Utah Project develops a portion of Utah's ...
* Central Valley Project * Colorado-Big Thompson Project * Colorado River Storage Project * Columbia Basin Project * Elwha River Dam Removal Project * Fryingpan-Arkansas Project * High Plains Cooperative Pilot Project * Huntley Project *
Klamath Project The Klamath Project is a water-management project developed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation to supply farmers with irrigation water and farmland in the Klamath Basin. The project also supplies water to the Tule Lake National Wildlif ...
* Minidoka Project * Moon Lake Project * Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project *
North Platte Project The North Platte Project (originally the Sweetwater Project) is an irrigation project in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Nebraska. The project provides irrigation service to about . The primary water storage for the project is in Pathfinder Reser ...
* Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System Project * Project Skywater *
Rio Grande Project The Rio Grande Project is a United States Bureau of Reclamation irrigation, hydroelectricity, flood control, and interbasin water transfer project serving the upper Rio Grande basin in the southwestern United States. The project irrigates along ...
*
Shoshone Project The Shoshone Project is an irrigation project in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The project provides irrigation for approximately of crops in the Big Horn Basin, fulfilling the vision of local resident and developer Buffalo Bill Cody, who hoped to m ...
* Sierra Cooperative Pilot Project * Strawberry Valley Project * Washita Basin Project * Yuma Project


See also

* Colorado River Aqueduct *
Desert Terminal Lakes Program The Desert Terminal Lakes Program, enacted in Section of the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171, Sec. 2507), authorizes the transfer of $200 million from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to the Bureau of Reclamation to provide water to "at risk na ...
*
Grand Coulee Dam Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerho ...
*
List of United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Following is a complete list of the approximately 340 dams owned by the United States Bureau of Reclamation as of 2008. The Bureau was established in July 1902 as the "United States Reclamation Service" and was renamed in 1923. The agency has ...
* Refuge Water Supply Program *
Riverside Canal (El Paso) The Riverside Canal is an irrigation canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. ...
* Yuma Valley Railway, a predecessor of the Yuma Valley Railroad that was owned by USG along Colorado River in Yuma, Arizona


References


Further reading

* Börk, Karrigan S., "'The Wilderness and the Dry Land Will Be Glad; and the Desert Will Rejoice and Blossom like a Rose': The Origins of the Bureau of Reclamation," ''Journal of the West'' 50 (Spring 2011), 60–74. *
Marc Reisner Marc Reisner (September 14, 1948 – July 21, 2000) was an American environmentalist and writer best known for his book ''Cadillac Desert'', a history of water management in the American West. Early life He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the ...
, '' Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water.'' Revised edition (Penguin, 1993). . * Christopher Sneddon, ''Concrete Revolution: Large Dams, Cold War Geopolitics, and the US Bureau of Reclamation'', 2015, University of Chicago Press * Daniel P. Beard ''Deadbeat Dams: Why We Should Abolish the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Tear Down Glen Canyon Dam'', (Johnson Books, 2015).


External links

*
Bureau of Reclamation
in the
Federal Register The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on fede ...

List of Reclamation projects, dams and powerplants



Bureau that Changed the West
Documentary produced by Idaho Public Television {{Authority control Government agencies established in 1902 Bureau of Reclamation Water management authorities in the United States Reclamation 1902 establishments in Washington, D.C.