[2] The Act was co-authored by Democratic Congressional Representative Francis G. Newlands of Nevada, Frederick H. Newell of the United States Geological Survey, and George H. Maxwell, head of the National Reclamation Association.

[7] John Wesley Powell, arguably the "father of reclamation",[8] began a series of expeditions to explore the American West in 1867.

[11] By the late 1800s, small-scale private and local farming organizations would prove the benefits of irrigation projects in the arid western states.

[1] 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.

[1] 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.

President Theodore Roosevelt supported the national effort and assembled the legislative alliances that made passage of the act possible.

Not envisioned by the act, Bureau of Reclamation dams support 58 power plants producing 40 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually.