PUB00145 ‎(2)‎

• Year: 2005
• Title: Western States Water Council - Seattle, WA., July 13-15, 2005
• CWCB Section: Administration
• Description: Western States Water Council - Seattle, WA., July 13-15, 2005
• Publications - Doc Type: Water Policy

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Proposed Position No._
(See Past Position No. 241)

D-R-A-F-T
RESOLUTION
of the
WESTERN STATES WATER COUNCIL
regarding the
THE RECLAMATION FUND
Seattle, Washington
Julyl5, 2005

WHEREAS, in the West, water is indeed our "life blood" - a vital and scarce resource the
availability of which has and continues to circumscribe growth, development and our economic well
being and environmental quality of life - the wise conservation and management of which is critical to
maintaining human life, health, welfare, property and environmental and natural resources; and

WHEREAS, recognizing the critical importance of water in the development of the West, the
Congress passed the Reclamation Act on June 17, 1902 and provided monies "reserved, set aside, and
appropriated as a special fund in the Treasury to be known as the 'reclamation fund,' to be used in the
examination and survey for and the construction and maintenance of irrigation works for the storage,
diversion, and development of water for the reclamation of arid and semiarid land..." in seventeen
western states, to be continually invested and reinvested; and

WHEREAS, then President Theodore Roosevelt stated, "The work of the Reclamation Service
in developing the larger opportunities of the western half of our country for irrigation is more
important than almost any other movement. The constant purpose of the Government in connection
with the Reclamation Service has been to use the water resources of the public lands for the ultimate
greatest good of the greatest number; in other words, to put upon the land permanent homemakers, to
use and develop it for themselves and for their children and children's children...;" I and

WHEREAS, the Secretary of the Interior was authorized and directed to "locate and
construct" water resource projects to help people settle and prosper in this arid region, leading to the
establishment of the Reclamation Service -- today's U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; and

WHEREAS, western states and the Bureau of Reclamation have worked in collaboration to
meet the water-related needs of the citizens of the West, and protect the interests of all Americans,
recognizing changing public values and the need to put scarce water resources to beneficial use for the
"ultimate greatest good of the greatest number;" and

\VHEREAS, the Bureau of Reclamation has built facilities that include 348 reservoirs with the
capacity to store 245 million acre-feet of water, irrigating approximately 10 million acres of farmland
that produce 60 percent of the nation's vegetables and 25 percent of its fruits and nuts, as well as
providing water to about 31 million people for municipal and industrial uses, while generating more
than 42 billion kilowatt hours of energy each year from 58 hydroelectric power plants for some nine
million people, and further providing flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits; and

IState of the Union Address, 1907