Legislation passed by Congress to encourage the irrigation of western desert lands.
During the late nineteenth century, the United States government attempted to encourage the settlement and irrigation of western arid lands with the Desert Land Act of 1877. Having failed to entice both foreign immigrants and U.S. citizens to migrate to these difficult regions, by 1902 Congress passed another piece of legislation to stimulate migration— the Newlands Reclamation Act. Under the terms of the legislation, the federal government allowed for the western states to use up to 95 percent of the profits derived from sales of public land for irrigation projects with the understanding that the water users would pay off the cost of the irrigation works over ten years. The first two successful projects under this act involved the Carson and Salt River projects. The Carson project controlled the waters of the Carson and Truckee Rivers in western Nevada and resulted in the construction of the Lahontan Dam in 1915. The Salt River project provides electricity and water to the Phoenix, Arizona, area and encompassed the construction of the Roosevelt Dam in a canyon east of Phoenix. The dam provides a two-year supply of water to a region known for the growing of citrus fruits, lettuce, melons, and other crops. In 1914, Congress lengthened the time of repayment to two and then four years. During the Great Depression, the Roosevelt administration expanded the role of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, established in 1902 under the Department of the Interior. In addition to providing irrigation for these western states, the act also provides for the generation of hydroelectric power. Subsequent projects have included the Bonneville Dam and the Grand Couleee Dam, the Central Valley Project in California, the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, and the Missouri River Basin Project.
