Chapter 247. Extending the period of payment under reclamation projects, and for other purposes
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CHAP. 247.— An Act Extending the period of payment under reclamation projects, and for other purposes. August 13, 1914.[[S. 4628](/us/bill/63/s/4628).][[Public, No. 170](/us/pl/63/170).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Reclamation Act.Time for paying construction charges hereafter.Vol. 32, p. 388. That any person whose lands hereafter become subject to the terms and conditions of the Act approved June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two, entitled “An Act appropriating the receipts from the sale anti disposal of public lands in certain States and Territories to the construction ofVol. 34, p. 519.Vol. 37, p. 265. irrigation works for the reclamation of arid lands,” and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, hereafter to be referred to as the reclamation law, and any person who hereafter makes entry thereunder shall at the time of making water-right application or entry, as the case may be, pay into the reclamation fund five per centum ofInstallments established. the construction charge fixed for his land as an initial installment, and shall pay the balance of said charge in fifteen annual installments, the first five of which shall each be five per centum of the construction charge and the remainder shall each be seven per centum until the whole amount shall have been paid.
The first of the annual installments shall become due and payable on December first of the fifth*Provisos*.Advance payments. calendar year after the initial installment: *Provided*, That any water-right applicant or entryman may, if he so elects, pay the whole or any part of the construction charges owing by him within any shorterAnnouncement of entry, etc. period: *Provided further*, That entry may be made whenever water is available, as announced by the Secretary of the Interior, and the initial payment be made when the charge per acre is established. 687 act shall apply to existing projects.
Sec. 2. That any person whose land or entry has heretofore becomePayments under existing projects extended. subject to the terms and conditions of the reclamation law shall pay the construction charge, or the portion of the construction charge remaining unpaid, in twenty annual installments, the first of which shall become due and payable on December first of the year in which the public notice affecting his land is issued under this Act, and subsequent installments on December first of each year thereafter.
TheDivision of installments. first four of such installments shall each be two per centum, the next two installments shall each be four per centum, and the next fourteen each six per centum of the total construction charge, or the portion of the construction charge unpaid at the beginning of such installments. penalties. Sec. 3. That if any water-right applicant or entryman shall fail toPenalties for nonpayment of construction charges. pay any installment of his construction charges when due, there shall added to the amount unpaid a penalty of one per centum thereof,Vol. 37, p. 266, amended. and there shall be added a like penalty of one per centum of the amount unpaid on the first day of each month thereafter so long as such default shall continue.
If any such applicant or entryman shallCancellation and forfeiture. be one year in default in the payment of any installment of the construction charges and penalties, or any part thereof, his water-right application, and if he be a homestead entryman his entry also, shall be subject to cancellation, and all payments made by him forfeited to the reclamation fund, but no homestead entry shall be subject to contest because of such default: *Provided*, That if the Secretary of*Proviso*.Actions for recovery. the Interior shall so elect, he may cause suit or action to be brought for the recovery of the amount in default and penalties; but if suit or action be brought, the right to declare a cancellation and forfeiture shall be suspended pending such suit or action. increase of charges.
Sec. 4. That no increase in the construction charges shall hereafterRestriction on increasing construction charges. be made, after the same have been fixed by public notice, except by agreement between the Secretary of the Interior and a majority of the water-right applicants and entrymen to be affected by such increase, whereupon all water-right applicants and entrymen in the area proposed to be affected by the increased charge shall become subject thereto. Such increased charge shall be added to the construction charge and payment thereof distributed over the remaining unpaid installments of construction charges: *Provided*, That the*Provisos*.Time for paying increase.
Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, may agree that such increased construction charge shall be paid in additional annual installments, each of which shall be at least equal to the amount of the largest installment as fixed for the project by the public notice theretofore issued. And such additional installments of the increased construction charge, as so agreed upon, shall become due and payable on December first of each year subsequent to the year when the final installment of the construction charge under such public notice is due and payable: *Provided further*, That all such increased constructionConditions, etc. charges shall be subject to the same conditions, penalties, and suit or action as provided in section three of this Act. operation and maintenance.
Sec. 5. That in addition to the construction charge, every water-rightOperation and maintenance.Bads of charges for. applicant, entryman, or landowner under or upon a reclamation project shall also pay, whenever water service is available688 for the irrigation of his land, an operation and maintenance charge based upon the total cost of operation and maintenance of the project, or each separate unit thereof, and such charge shall be made for each acre-foot of water delivered; but each acre of irrigable land, whether irrigated or not, shall be charged with a minimum operation and maintenance charge based upon the charge for delivery of not less*Proviso*.Transfer to local association or district. than one acre-foot of water: *Provided*, That, whenever any legally organized water users’ association or irrigation district shall so request, the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to transfer to such water users’ association or irrigation district the care, operation, and maintenance of all or any part of the projectReduction or increase of charges. works, subject to such rules and regulations as he may prescribe.
If the total amount of operation and maintenance charges and penalties collected for any one irrigation season on any project shall exceed the cost of operation and maintenance of the project during that irrigation season, the balance shall be applied to a reduction of the charge on the project for the next irrigation season, and any deficit incurred may likewise be added to the charge for the next irrigation season. penalties. Sec. 6. Charges.Discount for prompt payment. That all operation and maintenance charges shall become due and payable on the date fixed for each project by the Secretary of the Interior, and if such charge is paid on or before the date whenPenalty for nonpayment. due there shall be a discount of five per centum of such charge; but if such charge is unpaid on the first day of the third calendar month thereafter, a penalty of one per centum of the amount unpaid shall be added thereto, and thereafter an additional penalty of one per centum of the amount unpaid shall be added on the first day of each calendar month if such charge and penalties shall remain unpaid, and no water shall be delivered to the lands of any water-right applicant or entryman who shall be in arrears for more than one calendar year for the payment of any charge for operation and maintenance, or any annualCancellation, etc., for continued arrears. construction charge and penalties.
If any water-right applicant or entryman shall be one year in arrears in the payment of any charge for operation and maintenance and penalties, or any part thereof, his water-right application, and if he be a homestead entryman his entry also, shall be subject to cancellation, and all payments made by him forfeited to the reclamation fund, but no homestead entry shallActions for recovery. be subject to contest because of such arrears. In the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior suit or action may be brought for the amounts in default and penalties in like manner as provided in section three of this Act. fiscal agent.
Sec. 7. Local associations, etc., may collect charges. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to designate and appoint, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, the legally organized water users’ association or irrigation district, under any reclamation project, as the fiscal agent of the United States to collect the annual payments on the construction charge of the project and the annual charges for*Proviso*.Official receipt. operation and maintenance and all penalties: *Provided*, That no water-right applicant or entryman shall be entitled to credit for any payment thus made until the same shall have been paid over to an officer designated by the Secretary of the Interior to receive the same. reclamation requirements.
Sec. 8. Regulations for use of water, cultivation, etc., to be made. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to make general rules and regulations governing the use of water in the irrigation of the lands within any project, and may require the689 reclamation for agricultural purposes and the cultivation of one-fourth the irrigable area under each water-right application or entry within three full irrigation seasons after the filing of water-right application or entry, and the reclamation for agricultural purposes and the cultivation of one-half the irrigable area within five full irrigation seasons after the filing of the water-right application or entry, and shall provided for continued compliance with such requirements.
Failure on the part of any water-right applicant or entryman to complyPenalty for noncompliance. with such requirements shall render his application or entry subject to cancellation. lands not subject to reclamation act. Sec. 9. That in all cases where application for water right forAdditional charges on lands not subject to reclamation Act. lands in private ownership or lands held under entries not subject to the reclamation law shall not be made within one year after the passage of this Act, or within one year after notice issued in pursuanceVol. 32, p. 389. of section four of the reclamation Act, in cases where such notice has not heretofore been issued, the construction charges for such land shall be increased five per centum each year until such application is made and an initial installment is paid. withdrawn lands subject to entry.
Sec. 10. That the Act of Congress approved February eighteenth,Entry of withdrawn lands.Vol. 36, p. 918, amended.Vol. 36, p. 836. nineteen hundred and eleven, entitled “An Act to amend section five of the Act of Congress of June twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred and ten, entitled ‘An Act to authorize advances to the reclamation fund and for the issuance and disposal of certificates of indebtedness in reimbursement therefor, and for other purposes,’ ” be, and the same hereby is, amended so as to read as follows:
" “Sec. 5. That no entry shall be hereafter made and no entrymanNo entries allowed until units, etc., fixed. shall be permitted to go upon lands reserved for irrigation purposes until the Secretary of the Interior shall have established the unit of acreage per entry, and water is ready to be delivered for the land in such unit or some part thereof and such fact has been announced by the Secretary of the Interior: *Provided*, That where entries*Proviso*.Disposal of relinquished lands. made prior to June twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred and ten, have been or may be relinquished, in whole or in part, the lands so relinquished shall be subject to settlement and entry under the reclamation law.”" water service.
Sec. 11. That whenever water is available and it is impracticableFurnishing water before regular rates are fixed. to apportion operation and maintenance charges as provided in section five of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior may, prior to giving public notice of the construction charge per acre upon land under any project, furnish water to any entryman or private landowner thereunder until such notice is given, making a reasonable charge therefor, and such charges shall be subject to the same penalties and to the provisions for cancellation and collection as herein provided for other operation and maintenance charges. admission of private landowners to new projects.
Sec. 12. That before any contract is let or work begun for the constructionNew projects.Disposal of excess private holdings before construction of. of any reclamation project hereafter adopted the Secretary of the Interior shall require the owners of private lands thereunder to agree to dispose of all lands in excess of the area which he shall deem sufficient for the support of a family upon the land in question, upon690 such terms and at not to exceed such price as the Secretary of the InteriorLands excluded if owner refuse. may designate; and if any landowner shall refuse to agree to the requirements fixed by the Secretary of the Interior, his land shall not be included within the project if adopted for construction. disposition of excess farm units.
Sec. 13. Entries limited to one farm unit. That all entries under reclamation projects containing more than one farm unit shall be reduced in area and conformed to a single farm unit within two years after making proof of residence, improvement, and cultivation, or within two years after the issuance of a farm-unit plat for the project, if the same issues subsequent to the*Provisos*.Time for making proof. making of such proof: *Provided*, That such proof is made within four years from the date as announced by the Secretary of the Interior thatCancellation of excess. water is available for delivery for the land.
Any entryman failing within the period herein provided to dispose of the excess of his entry above one farm unit, in the manner provided by law, and to conform his entry to a single farm unit shall render his entry subject to cancellationIssue of patents. as to the excess above one farm unit: *Provided*, That upon compliance with the provisions of law such entryman shall be entitled to receive a patent for that part of his entry which conforms to one farmAssignments restricted. unit as established for the project: *Provided further*, That no person shall hold by assignment more than one farm unit prior to final payment of all charges for all the land held by him subject to the reclamation law, except operation and maintenance charges not then due. acceptance of this act.
Sec. 14. Notification of acceptance of Act by present owners. That any person whose land or entry has heretofore become subject to the reclamation law, who desires to secure the benefits of the extension of the period of payments provided by this Act, shall, within six months after the issuance of the first public notice hereunder affecting his land or entry, notify the Secretary of the Interior, in the maimer to be prescribed by said Secretary, of his acceptance of all of the terms and conditions of this Act, and thereafter his lands or entry shall be subject to all of the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 15. General authority. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to perform any and all acts and to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this Act into full force and effect. Sec. 16. Expenses after July 1, 1915, limited to specific appropriations, etc.*Post*, p. 859. That from and after July first, nineteen hundred and fifteen, expenditures shall not be made for carrying out the purposes of the reclamation law except out of appropriations made annually by Congress therefor, and the Secretary of the Interior shall, for the fiscal year nineteen hundred and sixteen, and annually thereafter, in the regular Book of Estimates, submit to Congress estimates of the amount of money necessary to be expended for carrying out any or all of the purposes authorized by the reclamation law, including the extension and completion of existing projects and units thereof andTo be paid from reclamation fund. the construction of new projects.
The annual appropriations made hereunder by Congress for such purposes shall be paid out of the reclamation fund provided for by the reclamation law. Approved, August 13, 1914.