Major water infrastructure and institutions in the development of the American west: Canals, dams, and hydropower

In the history of western expansion in the United States, arguably no natural resource has impacted the economy of the American west more than water. As a consumptive natural resource, water is necessary for urban growth and development, industrial mining, and for irrigated agriculture. However, water resources also provide non-consumptive, in-stream benefits, by allowing for transportation, energy production, and recreation. This chapter addresses the roles that water resources played in enabling western expansion in the United States, first into the trans-Appalachian west, and later into the more arid western territories. We address the institutions that arose in tandem with the development of water resources, and the complexities that competing demands have introduced to the management of these (often) constrained water resources.