What was the Newlands Reclamation Act?

The Newlands Reclamation Act (also known simply as the
Reclamation Act of 1902) was a law that allowed the federal government to get involved
in creating massive irrigation projects in the Western United States.  The law created
an entity that would come to be known as the Bureau of Reclamation.  This entity was
responsible for creating the huge irrigation projects, using water from dammed rivers,
which have changed the face of the West.

The Newlands
Reclamation Act has impacted the West in many ways.  The most obvious is that it helped
to create the huge dams that have irrigated what used to be desert and have allowed
farms and cities to exist in such places.  At the same time, the Act has given the
federal government a huge role in administering the resources of the
West.