The California-Great Basin

President Roosevelt signed the Reclamation Act (also known as the Newlands Act) into law in 1902, creating the U.S. Reclamation Service, which was renamed the Bureau of Reclamation in 1923.

The agency’s quest was to develop and provide water for the 17 arid western states. The 475 major structures built by Reclamation—including Hoover Dam on the Colorado River and Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River—are testaments to the agency’s accomplishment of its early construction mission, which helped establish the West.

The California-Great Basin Region is one of five Reclamation regions across the nation’s 17 western states. It encompasses two-thirds of California, the Klamath Basin, and most of Nevada. The California-Great Basin Region manages one of the nation’s largest and best-known water projects—the Central Valley Project—as well as Oregon’s Klamath Project; Nevada’s Newlands, Humboldt, Washoe, and Truckee projects; and Central California’s Cachuma, Orland, Santa Maria, Solano, and Ventura River projects.

Headquartered in Sacramento, the region has five area offices located in Shasta Lake, Folsom, Fresno, California; Carson City, Nevada; and Klamath Falls, Oregon; three specialized offices: Bay-Delta, Central Valley Operations, and Construction offices; in addition to five field offices.

The Region works to develop and implement a thoughtful approach to water allocations to serve our water users while protecting the environment. The Region’s goal is to balance the variety of needs among water uses and water users. These include agriculture, urban and industrial use, fish and wildlife, water quality, wetlands, endangered species, Native American Tribal Trust, power generation, and recreation.

The Region employs more than 1,000 professionals in a wide range of positions from engineers to park rangers, to fish biologists to administrative professionals. Project managers take the lead in planning contracts, implementing habitat improvements, and furthering infrastructure projects. Operations and maintenance personnel manage and maintain critical facilities in drought and flood conditions, monitor facilities instrumentation, perform preventive maintenance, and oversee rehabilitation and repair projects. Our professional experts provide the design, engineering, construction, data processing, human resources, procurement, budget, and other services essential to getting the job done.