Bureau of Reclamation
Facts & Information
The Bureau of Reclamation:
- Manages, develops, and protects water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public.
- Serves as the fifth largest electric utility in the 17 Western States and the nation's largest wholesale water supplier, administering 348 reservoirs with a total storage capacity of 245 million acre-feet (an acre-foot, 325,851 gallons of water, supplies enough water for a family of four for one year).
- Provides 1 out of 5 Western farmers (140,000) with irrigation water for 10 million farmland acres that produce 60% of the nation's vegetables and 25% of its fruits and nuts.
- Operates 58 hydroelectric powerplants averaging 42 billion kilowatt-hours annually.
- Delivers 10 trillion gallons of water to more than 31 million people each year.
- Manages in partnership 308 recreation sites visited by 90 million people a year.
The Bureau of Reclamation priorities are to:
- Operate and maintain projects in a safe and reliable manner, protecting the health and safety of the public and Reclamation employees.
- Ensure continued delivery of water and power benefits consistent with environmental and other requirements.
- Honor state water rights, interstate compacts, and contracts to Reclamation users.
- Play an important role in meeting increasing demands for finite water resources.
- Enhance effectiveness in addressing complex water management issues in the West.
The Bureau of Reclamation is:
- Developing strategies to use water more than once, satisfying multiple entities (irrigators, municipalities, power users, and environmental interests)
- Working in partnership with states, tribes, water users, power users, and others to seek creative and collaborative solutions to Western water issues.
- Providing sustainable and low cost power supplies from our hydropower facilities.
- Ensuring that our dams do not create a risk to public safety by conducting internal reviews annually and independent inspections every three years.
- Working with states to address water allocation issues on western rivers.
- Improving and developing water recycling and reuse technology, while also increasing awareness and acceptance for waste water reuse.
- Serving as a technical resource for water users and planners.
Last Reviewed: 7/16/04