Page 6

Zeutschel OS7000, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 9,738,016 bytesto withdraw from entry lands required for any contemplated project, either for irrigation works or because of their susceptibility of irrigation. He shall determine whether proposed projects are practicable and advisable, and the lands he proposes to irrigate shall be subject to entry only under the homestead laws in tracts of not less than 40 acres nor more than 160 acres. When the Secretary determines a project is practicable, he may cause contracts to be let for the construction thereof, providing the necessary funds are available, and he is thereupon required to give public notice of the lands irrigable under such project, the limit of area per entry, the charges which shall be made per acre upon said entries and upon the lands in private ownership which may be irrigated, and the number of annual installments, not exceeding 10, in which said charges shall be paid, and the time when said payments shall commence. The act limits the amount of money which the Government may collect from the landowners and entrymen to the estimated cost of construction, and requires that this estimated cost shall be apportioned equitably. The entrymen upon such lands are required to reclaim at least one-half of the total irrigable area of their entries and must pay to the Government the charges apportioned against their lands before they can receive patents therefor. No owner of private lands can receive water for more than 160 acres, and such landowner is required to be an actual bona fide resident on such lands or occupant thereof residing in the neighborhood, and no such water rights attach permanently until all payments therefor are made. The moneys received from these sources must be paid into the reclamation fund, to be used for the construction of other projects. The Secretary is authorized and directed to use the reclamation funds for the operation and maintenance of all reservoir and irrigation works constructed until the major portion of the lands irrigated are paid for, when the management and operation of the irrigation works shall pass to the owners of the lands to be maintained at their expense under an organization acceptable to the Secretary. The title to and management and operation of the irrigation works remains in the Government until otherwise provided by Congress. The Secretary can acquire rights or property by purchase or condemnation proceedings on 30 days notice from the Secretary. The act specifically provided that nothing therein shall affect or interfere in any manner with the laws of any State or Territory relative to the control, appropriation, use, or distribution of water used in irrigation or any vested right acquired thereunder. The Secretary is required to proceed in conformity with such laws. However, the right to the use of water acquired under the provisions of the act is made appurtenant to the land irrigated and beneficial use the basis, the measure, and the limit of the right. The Secretary is also required to spend the major portion of the funds arising from the sale of public lands within each State and Territory within the limits of such State or Territory, and he is authorized to establish rules and regulations necessary and proper to carry the provisions of the act into effect. The constitutionality of this act has been called into serious question. Aside from this, it is a masterpiece of legislation, in that it safeguards the Government and the settler. The innumerable troubles that have arisen under its operation in 10 years have been and are due to incompetence and mis and mal administration