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As early as 1867, bills were introduced in Congress to encourage irrigation and reclamation of unproductive land and, in 1877, the Desert Land Act linked irrigation to grants of public land. Congress also authorized studies of the Westâs geology and water supply, which culminated in comprehensive reports.
Each of these townships were sub-divided into thirty-six sections of one square mile (2.59 kmÂ²) or 640 acres. These sections could then be further subdivided for sale to settlers and land speculators. The ordinance was also significant for establishing a mechanism for funding public education.herefore, the immediate goal of the ordinance was to raise money through the sale of land in the largely unmapped territory west of the original colonies acquired from Britain at the end of the Revolutionary War.