George Hebard Maxwell

George Hebard Maxwell (June 3, 1860 – December 1, 1946) was an American attorney and lobbyist for water reclamation and communal irrigation projects. In 1899, he formed the National Reclamation Association and, in 1902, along with Democratic U.S. Representative Francis G. Newlands, helped pass the National Reclamation Act.

From the late 1890s to the 1940s, Maxwell was a known public advocate for social causes such as support of farming communities, city, and suburban gardening as a source of food supply as well as environmental issues. He is often considered to be "The Father of Reclamation".

Early life

Maxwell was born on June 3, 1860, in Sonoma, California, to John Morgan and Clara Hebard Maxwell. After finishing the University of California, he became a court stenographer and then a lawyer in 1882. Residing at 2405 Prospect Street, in Berkeley, California, he worked in San Francisco for a recognized attorney specializing in mining law. As a Bay Area attorney, he took on small farmers' access to public water cases and reopened and overturned the previous decisions against his clients.

After becoming the secretary of the San Francisco Merchants Committee, Maxwell worked with the Salvation Army in raising funds for its communal agricultural experiment in the Salinas Valley. In the 1890s, he was considered a leading Bay Area advocate for water development and co-operative rural improvement.

Water reclamation proponent and lobbyist

In 1896, Maxwell attended the Fifth National Irrigation Congress in Phoenix, Arizona and then he ceased practicing law and moved to Phoenix to push for the Irrigation Congress to take a more active role in its political activities. Specifically, he advocated for the establishment of a press committee, increasing support from the business community, creatinf a committee on legislation, and embracinhy of federal co-operation rather than of states and private organizations. Three years later, Maxwell expanded this movement by creating the National Reclamation Association. At that time reclamation stood for irrigation projects that would reclaim arid land and make it habitable to be used by people and encourage Western settlement. In 1902, along with United States Senator Francis G. Newlands, he became co-author of the National Reclamation Act. Under the Act, construction of projects like dams were financed by farmers who were issued the arid federal territories and then made annual payments for the property and in turn financed the continuing operation. By 1904 construction began on 30 projects in 13 western states and 3 federal territories.