In June 1902 Congress passed the Newlands Reclamation Act. The act was named after Senator Francis Newlands of Nevada. The act authorized the construction of federal irrigation projects in the West. The U.S. government would use the proceeds from public-land sales in 16 western and southwestern states to pay for these projects. At the time, many considered this act to be a new version of the Homestead Act, which would provide small, irrigated farms to ordinary Americans. However, it mostly benefited large agribusinesses.
