lERIGATION UNDER THE CAREY ACT. 477 



enable him to devote more time to field investigations and relieve 

 him of the responsibility of acting as a board member upon his own 

 reconnnendations as State engineer upon the various matters con- 

 nected with Carey Act operations. 



The laws, rules, and regulations of Montana arc very similar to 

 those of Wyoming and Idaho in matters of administration relative 

 to making segregations, operations of construction companies, and 

 procedure of the settler in securing possession of lands and water 

 rights under projects. Montana's water laws are not so eifective as 

 those of Wyoming and Idaho, where certificates of permits to appro- 

 priate water are required before segregations are applied for by the 

 State. It is therefore provided that the statement of " Avater avail- 

 able'' shall be substantiated by the presentation of the data from 

 w^hich the amount of " water available " was determined. The State 

 is not obligated to pay for work of subcontractors, or responsible to 

 settlers for failures that may occur in spite of careful supervision 

 exercised. The price at which the land is sold to entrymen is placed 

 at 50 cents to $1 per acre, the full amount payable at time of entry. 

 When the number of water rights sold and paid for reach a specified 

 percentage of the total water rights under a project (not to exceed 

 90 per cent in any case) the control and operation of the project is 

 turned over to the settlers. This percentage is variable and is fixed 

 by the board in each case at the time of entering the contract with 

 the company. 



Special features of the Montana law are as follows: By paying all 

 costs and fees any person wishing to reclaim land under the Carey 

 Act may, by applying to the board, have the State engineer make a 

 reconnoissance or preliminary survey of the project proposed to be 

 developed. In this way preliminary official approval may be had of 

 any project without the expense of a private survey and investiga- 

 tions which must afterwards be gone over by the State engineer. 



Cooperative reclamation projects initiated and constructed by the 

 settlers themselves are specifically authorized by law. Such organi- 

 zations shall be incorporated as '* cooperative irrigation associations," 

 and each member shall subscribe to one share of stock for each 40 

 acres of land to be filed upon by him. It is the duty of the State 

 engineer to investigate the project proposed, and if found feasible 

 to prepare the necessary maps for securing the segregation and sub- 

 sequently to i^repare the necessary plans and specifications and exer- 

 cise general supervision over their execution. No charge for this 

 work is made other than a filing fee of 25 cents for each acre reserved. 

 Procedure in the matter of settlement, cultivation, and securing of 

 title is the same as for other types of projects. 



To expedite settlement on any project the board is authorized to 

 lease or otherwise permit reclaimed lands to be improved, occupied, 



