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Newlands Reclamation Act: Difference between revisions
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[[John Wesley Powell]], arguably the "father of reclamation",<ref>{{cite web |title=John Wesley Powell and Reclaiming the West |url=https://www.usbr.gov/lc/phoenix/AZ100/1899/wesleypowell.html |website=U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=15 March 2024}}</ref> began a series of expeditions to explore the American West in 1867. He concluded that the Western United States was so arid that it could not yet support extensive development, and government involvement in large-scale irrigation would be necessary.<ref name="Powell">{{cite web |last1=McNamee |first1=Gregory |title=John Wesley Powell |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Wesley-Powell |website=Britannica |access-date=15 March 2024}}</ref> Among his observations, he saw that, after snowmelt and spring rains, the rivers of the West flooded and released huge amounts of water and that for the rest of the year not enough rain fell to sufficiently support agriculture, and so reservoir dams were necessary.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Powell |first1=John Wesley |title=Monograph |chapter=Report on the lands of the arid region of the United States with a more detailed account of the land of Utah with maps |date=1879 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=13–14 |doi=10.3133/70039240 }}</ref> The U.S. government saw too much economic potential in the West to heed Powell's advice, at the time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rowley |first1=William D. |title=The Bureau of Reclamation: Origins and Growth to 1945. Volume 1 |date=2006 |publisher=Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior |page=70 |url=https://www.usbr.gov/history/OriginsandGrowths/Volume1.pdf}}</ref> | [[John Wesley Powell]], arguably the "father of reclamation",<ref>{{cite web |title=John Wesley Powell and Reclaiming the West |url=https://www.usbr.gov/lc/phoenix/AZ100/1899/wesleypowell.html |website=U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=15 March 2024}}</ref> began a series of expeditions to explore the American West in 1867. He concluded that the Western United States was so arid that it could not yet support extensive development, and government involvement in large-scale irrigation would be necessary.<ref name="Powell">{{cite web |last1=McNamee |first1=Gregory |title=John Wesley Powell |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Wesley-Powell |website=Britannica |access-date=15 March 2024}}</ref> Among his observations, he saw that, after snowmelt and spring rains, the rivers of the West flooded and released huge amounts of water and that for the rest of the year not enough rain fell to sufficiently support agriculture, and so reservoir dams were necessary.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Powell |first1=John Wesley |title=Monograph |chapter=Report on the lands of the arid region of the United States with a more detailed account of the land of Utah with maps |date=1879 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=13–14 |doi=10.3133/70039240 }}</ref> The U.S. government saw too much economic potential in the West to heed Powell's advice, at the time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rowley |first1=William D. |title=The Bureau of Reclamation: Origins and Growth to 1945. Volume 1 |date=2006 |publisher=Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior |page=70 |url=https://www.usbr.gov/history/OriginsandGrowths/Volume1.pdf}}</ref> | ||
By the late 1800s, small-scale private and local farming organizations would prove the benefits of irrigation projects in the arid western states.<ref name="NPS" /> When it became apparent that an organized effort would be required to make agriculture viable in the West, Representative [[Francis G. Newlands]] of Nevada introduced legislation into the United States Congress to provide federal help and coordination for irrigation projects.<ref name="NPS" /> Newlands carried the bulk of the legislative burden and had a strong technical backup from [[Frederick Haynes Newell]] of the Department of the Interior and George H. Maxwell, head of the National Reclamation Association. Conflict emerged over whether reclamation efforts ought to occur at the [[state's rights|state level]] or at the [[Federalism in the United States#Between dual federalism and the New Deal|federal level]]. President | By the late 1800s, small-scale private and local farming organizations would prove the benefits of irrigation projects in the arid western states.<ref name="NPS" /> When it became apparent that an organized effort would be required to make agriculture viable in the West, Representative [[Francis G. Newlands]] of Nevada introduced legislation into the United States Congress to provide federal help and coordination for irrigation projects.<ref name="NPS" /> Newlands carried the bulk of the legislative burden and had a strong technical backup from [[Frederick Haynes Newell]] of the Department of the Interior and George H. Maxwell, head of the National Reclamation Association. Conflict emerged over whether reclamation efforts ought to occur at the [[state's rights|state level]] or at the [[Federalism in the United States#Between dual federalism and the New Deal|federal level]]. President Theodore Roosevelt supported the national effort and assembled the legislative alliances that made passage of the act possible. After several years of effort, the resulting act passed on June 17, 1902.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lilley |first1=William III |title=Chapter 11: New Lands |url=https://newlands.stanford.edu/11-new-lands |website=The System of the River |publisher=Stanford University |access-date=15 March 2024}}</ref> | ||
The 1902 act was later amended by the [[Reclamation Reform Act of 1982]] ({{USPL|97|293}}, Title II) to limit the corporate use of water and speculation on land that would benefit from reclamation projects.<ref name="1982act" /> | The 1902 act was later amended by the [[Reclamation Reform Act of 1982]] ({{USPL|97|293}}, Title II) to limit the corporate use of water and speculation on land that would benefit from reclamation projects.<ref name="1982act" /> | ||