When Congress passed the National Reclamation Act in 1902, the measure set in motion the dramatic transformation of arid sections of the American West in order to "reclaim" land for productive agricultural use. President Theodore Roosevelt, who signed the bill into law, believed that reclaiming arid lands would promote the agrarian ideals of Thomas Jefferson. Sometimes referred to as the Newlands Reclamation Act after its chief sponsor, Representative Francis Newlands of Nevada, the legislation authorized the Secretary of the Interior to designate irrigation sites and to establish a reclamation fund from the sale of public lands to finance the projects. Of the many reclamation projects in the United States, Oregon's Klamath Project is the second oldest in the nation.
hope this helps
