Water Conservation Projects & Programs

The Bureau of Reclamation was created by the Reclamation Act of 1902, to reclaim the arid Western United States. Reclamation accomplished this through the construction of water projects that allowed for settlement and economic development of the 17 Western states. Over the last century, Reclamation's responsibilities have evolved from constructing water projects and operating and maintaining facilities, into the broader aspects of contemporary water management issues and related resource management and protection.

Today, Reclamation's new mission as a manager, developer, and protector of water and related resources requires a new management approach to provide an adequate water supply for a growing population and a variety of competing needs. More efficient use of water is a necessary element of the balance that must exist in order to supply water for residential, industrial, agricultural, environmental, recreational, and Native American needs while achieving flood control and drought management objectives.

In 1997, the Bureau of Reclamation initiated the Water Conservation Field Services Program (WCFSP) to encourage water conservation and efficient use of water supplies on federal Reclamation projects, as well as foster improved water management on a watershed basis throughout the Western states.The WCFSP was designed to implement the Preferred Alternative in Reclamation's March 1996 Final Environmental Impact Statement on Implementation of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA).

The major objective of the Reclamation-wide water Conservation Field Services Program is to create projects that physically demonstrates the importance of water and the need for its conservation. Listed below are some of our on-going projects: