The Federal Reclamation Program

House Natural Resources Committee
1324 Longworth

05/20/2026 at 10:00AM

On Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold a hearing titled “The Federal Reclamation Program’s Next Century.”

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

Panel One

  • Scott Cameron, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, on behalf of Bureau of Reclamation

Panel Two

  • Samantha Barncastle, Executive Director, Family Farm Alliance, Las Cruces, New Mexico
  • Shivaji Deshmukh, General Manager, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
  • Jennifer Patrick, Project Manager, Milk River Joint Board of Control, Havre, Montana
  • J. Scott Petersen, Director of Water Policy, San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, Los Banos, California

Since its establishment in 1902, Reclamation has built major infrastructure across the western U.S., making up more than three-quarters of the Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) total constructed assets. Its inventory features 348 reservoirs, 480 dams, 58 hydroelectric power plants, and approximately 10,000 miles of canals, providing irrigation to 10 million acres of farmland and producing over 44 billion kilowatt-hours of energy annually.