Reclaiming for recreation: for 100 years, the federal Bureau of Reclamation has brought water--and recreation--to the American West.

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation is more than the creator and keeper of the Hoover Dam. It operates about 180 projects in the 17 Western states. Because of its key role in managing water resources in the American West, it's also host to millions of recreation seekers every year on the hundreds of sites it tends. The bureau celebrated its centennial in June, but is focused on its future--meeting the disparate, sometimes-competing needs of the West's lands, residents and visitors.

How the Bureau Came to Be

Inadequate precipitation in the American West required settlers to use irrigation for agriculture. At first, settlers simply diverted water from streams, but in many areas, demand outstripped supply. As demand for water increased, settlers wanted to store "wasted" runoff from rains and snow for later use, thus maximizing use by making more water available in drier seasons. At that time, private and state-sponsored storage and irrigation ventures were pursued but often failed because of lack of money, lack of engineering skill or both.

Pressure mounted for the federal government to undertake storage and irrigation projects. Congress had already invested in America's infrastructure through subsidies to roads, river navigation, harbors, canals and railroads. Westerners wanted the federal government also to invest in irrigation projects in the West. The irrigation movement demonstrated its strength when pro-irrigation planks found their way into both Democratic and Republican platforms in 1900. Eastern and Midwestern opposition in the Congress quieted when Westerners filibustered and killed a bill containing rivers and harbors projects favored by opponents of Western irrigation. Congress passed the Reclamation Act on June 17, 1902. The act required that water users repay construction costs from which they received benefits.

In the jargon of the day, irrigation projects were known as "reclamation" projects. The concept was that irrigation would "reclaim" arid lands for human use. In addition, "homemaking" was a key argument for supporters of reclamation. Irrigation's supporters believed reclamation programs would encourage Western settlement, making homes for Americans on family farms. President Theodore Roosevelt supported the reclamation movement because of his personal experience in the West, and because he believed in homemaking.

In July 1902, in accordance with the Reclamation Act, Secretary of the Interior 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 had no federal lands, it didn't become a Reclamation state until 1906, when Congress passed a special act including it in the provisions of the Reclamation Act.

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. In the early years, many projects encountered problems: lands and soils included in projects were unsuitable for irrigation; land speculation sometimes resulted in poor settlement patterns; proposed repayment schedules couldn't be met by irrigators who had high land preparation and facilities construction costs; settlers were inexperienced in irrigation farming; water logging of irrigable lands required expensive drainage projects; and projects were built in areas that could grow only low-value crops. In 1923, the agency was renamed the Bureau of Reclamation. Then, in 1924, the "Fact Finder's Report" spotlighted the issues of increasing settler unrest and financial problems for the reclamation program. The Fact Finders Act in late 1924 sought to resolve some of the financial and other problems.

In 1928, Congress authorized the Boulder Canyon (Hoover Dam) Project; for the first time, large appropriations began to flow to Reclamation from the general funds of the U.S. 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. 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. Although the 1976 failure of Teton Dam didn't diminish Reclamation's strong international reputation in water development circles, the event did shake the bureau. It subsequently developed a strong dam safety program designed to avoid similar problems in the future. Nonetheless, the failure of Teton Dam, the environmental movement and the announcement of President Jimmy Carter's "hit list" on water projects profoundly affected the direction of Reclamation's programs and activities in the U.S.

Between 1988 and 1994, Reclamation underwent major reorganization as construction on projects authorized in the 1960s and earlier drew to an end. As the bureau put it at the time, "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 operating and maintaining 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.

The Recreation Angle

Recreation and tourism are the West's largest industries, and the nation's second largest employer. Bureau of Reclamation recreation sites make a huge contribution to meeting the public's demand for recreation by accommodating 90 million visits at more than 340 reservoirs in the western U.S. each year. The most popular activities are fishing, boating, swimming, bird watching, camping and hunting. More anglers fish on Reclamation sites than on all other Department of the Interior waters combined.

Nearly 200 of Reclamation's recreation areas are managed in partnership with state, county and local government agencies; another 75 are managed by other federal agencies, including the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, there are 225 concessionaires offering a variety of outdoor facilities and services to the pubic, including marinas, campgrounds, golf courses, lodging, food and swimming beaches.

Water Works

As the largest water resources management agency in the West, Reclamation delivers 10 trillion gallons of water to more than 31 million people in 17 Western states for municipal, rural and industrial uses. Reclamation facilities store more than 245 million acre-feet of water, providing one of every five Western farmers with irrigation water for about 10 million acres of land. These irrigated lands produce 60 percent of the nation's vegetables and 25 percent of its fruits and nuts.

Reclamation has a variety of programs available to help Westerners make the best possible use of the West's limited water supplies. Under the Southern California Water Recycling Projects Initiative, Reclamation has formed a cooperative cost-sharing partnership with 11 water and wastewater agencies to improve water conservation and reuse. Reclamation's Drought Emergency Assistance Program helped mitigate impacts to fish and wildlife in 2001 by acquiring water from willing sellers to increase flows on the middle Rio Grande in New Mexico.

Collaborative Partnerships

Reclamation has working relationships with stakeholders, tribes, governmental agencies, special interest groups and others throughout the West. For example, the bureau helped develop a Storage and Interstate Release Agreement between the states of Arizona and Nevada to allow Nevada to store portions of its unused Colorado River water in Arizona groundwater aquifers for future use.

A cooperative partnership between Reclamation, the Bass Angler's Sportsman Association and local entities brings disabled children and their families together with sponsors for a special day of recreation in localities throughout the West. The program, C.A.S.T. (Catch a Special Thrill) for Kids, offers children from 7 to 14 years old with a wide range of disabilities an opportunity to enjoy fishing.

Dam Safety

Reclamation's Safety of Dams program ensures that bureau facilities don't present unacceptable risk to people, property and the environment. The program also serves as a standard for ensuring the safety of dams on other Department of the Interior lands.

Continued safe performance is a concern with aging dams and requires a greater emphasis on the risk management assessments conducted by the Safety of Dams program. Approximately 50 percent of Reclamation's dams were built between 1900 and 1950. Ninety percent of its dams were built before current state-of-the-art foundation treatment and filter techniques were incorporated in embankment dams to control seepage.

Of the 457 dams that Reclamation manages, 370 are located in areas that could endanger life and property. Reclamation uses current, state-of-the-art design and construction practices to monitor, examine and evaluate the performance of these facilities each year. Comprehensive reviews of all bureau facilities are performed every six years.

Reclamation also holds regular emergency planning exercises with other federal, state and local agencies to practice communication and evacuation procedures.

Future Focus

At the bureau's centennial celebration in June, Commissioner John Keys had this to say about Reclamation's future: "The growing demand for water is shaping up to be one of this century's critical dilemmas. Reclamation intends to be at the forefront, providing leadership, innovation and assistance. We will continue to seek creative solutions to ensure continued delivery of water and power to our users while meeting environmental requirements and honoring state water rights, interstate compacts and other laws. We are committed to operating and maintaining our projects to protect the health and safety of the public and our employees. We will strive to improve the operational efficiency of our facilities, implement efficient water conservation measures, research and develop innovative water recycling and reuse techniques, and assist with contingency planning for droughts. By working together with the states and our contractors and partners, we can reach long-term and fair solutions to the complex issues facing not only the West, but also the entire United States and the world."