“An act appropriating the receipts for the sale and disposal of public lands in certain States and Territories to the construction of irrigation works for the reclamation of arid lands.”

- Reclamation Act of 1902, ch. 1093, 32 Stat 388

The Reclamation Act declares that any money received from the sale or disposal of public lands in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming are to be set aside as a special fund to be known as the “reclamation fund.”

This fund may be used to support the diversion and development of water resources in conjunction with the reclamation of arid and semiarid lands.

The Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of the Interior, and the National Park Service are the lead agencies under the Reclamation Act, working with otherfederal agencies, as well as state and local authorities, to meet the objectives of this act.