Chapter 77. To encourage the reclamation of certain arid lands in the State of Nevada, and for other purposes
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CHAP. 77.— An Act To encourage the reclamation of certain arid lands in the State of Nevada, and for other purposes. October 22, 1919. [[S. 9](/us/bill/66/s/9).] [[Public, No. 60](/us/pl/66/60).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That the Secretary of the Nevada.Permits authorized to prospect for underground water on designated public lands in.Interior is hereby authorized to grant to any citizen of the United States, or to any association of such citizens, a permit, which shall give the exclusive right, for a period not exceeding two years, to drill or otherwise explore for water beneath the surface of not exceeding two thousand five hundred and sixty acres of unreserved, unappropriated, nonmineral, nontimbered public lands of the United States in the State of Nevada not known to be susceptible of successful irrigation at a reasonable cost from any known source of water supply: *Provided, however,* That not more than one such permit *Provisos.*Permits limited.shall be issued to the same citizen or the same association of citizens within an area of forty miles square: *And provided further,* Fences, etc., restricted.That said land shall not be fenced or otherwise exclusively used by the permittee except as herein provided: *And provided further,* That Prior designation required.said land shall theretofore have been designated by the Secretary of the Interior as subject to disposal under the provisions of this act. 294 Designation of lands.
Sec. 2. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, on application or otherwise, to designate the lands subject to disposal *Proviso.*Acceptance of applications prior to designation.under the provisions of this act: *Provided, however,* That where any person or association qualified to receive a permit under the provisions of this act shall make application for such permit upon land which has not been designated as subject to disposal under the provisions of this act (provided said application is accompanied and supported by properly corroborated affidavit of the applicant, in duplicate, showing prima facie that the land applied for is of the Suspension of action.character contempleted by this act), such application, together with the regular fees and commissions, shall be received by the register and receiver of the land district in which said land is located and No disposal of the land during suspension.suspended until it shall have been determined by the Secretary of the Interior whether said land is actually of that character.
That during such suspension the land described in the application shall not be disposed of; and if the land shall be designated under this act, then such application shall be allowed; otherwise it shall be rejected, subject to appeal. Applications for permits.Requirements of good faith and for personal benefit. Sec. 3. That any qualified applicant for a permit under section 1 of this Act shall file with the register or receiver of the land district in which said land is located the application for such permit and shall make and subscribe before the proper officer and file with said register or receiver an affidavit that such application is honestly and in good faith made for the purpose of reclamation and cultivation and not for the benefit of any other person or corporation, and that the applicant is not acting as agent for any person, corporation, or syndicate in making such application, nor in collusion with any person, corporation, or syndicate to give them the benefit of the land applied for or any part thereof, and that the applicant will faithfully and honestly endeavor to comply with all of the requirements of Fee.this Act, and shall pay to said register and receiver a filing fee of 1 cent per acre for each acre of land embraced in said application, Issue.and such applicant shall then be entitled to receive such permit after the lands embraced therein are designated as provided in section 2 of this Act.
Conditions for development operations. Sec. 4. That such a permit shall be upon condition that the permittee shall begin operations for the development of underground waters within six months from the date of the permit and continue such operations with reasonable diligence until water has been discovered in the quantity hereinafter described, or until the date of Forfeiture for lack of diligence, etc.the expiration of the permit. Upon the presentation at any time of proof satisfactory to the Secretary of the Interior that any permittee is not conducting such operations in good faith and with reasonable diligence, or has violated any of the terms of the permit, the Secretary shall forthwith cancel such permit, and such permittee shall not again be granted a permit under this Act.
Patent for one-fourth of area on discovery and development of underground waters for irrigation. Sec. 5. That on establishing at any time within two years from the date of the permit to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that underground waters in sufficient quantity to produce at a profit agricultural crops other than native grasses upon not less than twenty acres of land has been discovered and developed and rendered available for such use within the limits of the land embraced in any permit the said permittee shall be entitled to a patent for one-fourth of the land embraced in the permit, such area to be selected by the permittee in compact form according to the legal subdivisions of the public land surveys if the land be surveyed, or to be surveyed at his expense under rules and regulations established by the Secretary of the Interior if located on unsurveyed land.
Remainder subject to homestead entry.Vol. 12, p. 392. Sec. 6. That the remaining area within the limits of the land embraced in any such permit shall thereafter be subject to entry and 295disposal only under “An Act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain,” approved May 20, 1862, and amendments thereto, known as the one-hundred-and-sixty-acre homestead Act. Sec. 7. That the receipts obtained from the sale of lands under Receipts to reclamation fund.Vol. 32, p. 388.the provisions of section 6 hereof shall be paid into, reserved, and appropriated as a part of the reclamation fund created by the act of Congress approved June 17, 1902, known as the Reclamation Act.
Sec. 8. That all entries made and patents issued under the provisions Mineral deposits reserved.of this Act shall be subject to and contain a reservation to the United States of all the coal and other valuable minerals in the lands so entered and patented, together with the right to prospect for, Disposal of.mine, and remove the same. The coal and other valuable mineral deposits in such lands shall be subject to disposal by the United States in accordance with the provisions of the coal and mineral land laws in force at the time of such disposal.
Any person qualified to Prospecting rights, etc., for.locate and enter the coal or other mineral deposits, or having the right to mine and remove the same under the laws of the United States, shall have the right at all times to enter upon the lands entered or patented, as provided by this Act, for the purpose of prospecting for coal or other mineral therein, provided he shall not injure, damage, or destroy the permanent improvements of the entryman or patentee, and shall be liable to and shall compensate the entryman or patentee for all damages to the crops on such lands by reason of such prospecting.
Any person who has acquired from the United States the coal Occupation of surface for development works.or other mineral deposits in any such land, or the right to mine or remove the same, may reenter and occupy so much of the surface thereof as may be required for all purposes reasonably incident to the mining or removal of the coal or other minerals, first, upon securing Conditions.the written consent or waiver of the homestead entryman or patentee; second, upon payment of the damages to crops or other tangible improvements to the owner thereof, where agreement may be had as to the amount thereof; or, third, in lieu of either of the foregoing provisions, upon the execution of a good and sufficient bond or undertaking to the United States for the use and benefit of the entryman or owner of the land, to secure the payment of such damages to the crops or tangible improvements of the entrymen or owner, as may be determined and fixed in an action brought upon the bond or undertaking in a court of competent jurisdiction against the principal and sureties thereon, such bond or undertaking to be in form and in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior and to be filed with and approved by the register and receiver of the local land office of the district wherein the land is situate, subject to appeal to the Commissioner of the General Land Office: *Provided,* *Proviso.*Mineral patents to reserve disposal of surface lands.That all patents issued for the coal or other mineral deposits herein reserved shall contain appropriate notations declaring them to be subject to the provisions of this Act with reference to the disposition, occupancy, and use of the surface of the land.
Sec. 9. That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe Regulations, etc.the necessary and proper rules and regulations and to do any and all things necessary to carry out and accomplish the purposes of this Act. Approved, October 22, 1919.