Question: Do you agree with this statement? In chapter 5 of Rahm's book the Clean Water Act is discussed. The earliest the United States federally got involved with water interests was with the Reclamation Act of 1902. There was a need in the American West to construct dams and distribution networks to serve the 16 western states. Since the early 1900s the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has managed water projects that have created water reservoirs, irrigation, flood control, and electricity. We have discussed a lot about air pollution but little about water pollution. The U.S. federal regulation of water pollution started just as earlier even a little earlier. There were many laws created for water pollution but three were marked as incremental increases to federal power for water policy. Those early laws were the Water Pollution and Control Act of 1948, the Water Quality Act of 1965, and the Clean Water Restoration Act of 1966.