312 



THE IBBIGATION AGE. 



that this distributing system may be ready for use when the 

 main canal, now under construction, is completed. The board 

 of consulting engineers recently convened at Klamath Falls 

 to open bids for this work reported that no bids were re- 

 ceived. The time required to readvertise this work, it is be- 

 lieved, would so delay construction that it is improbable water 

 could be provided for irrigation by next season. 



An extension of time of twenty days from May 1, 1906, 

 has been given to Robinson & Maney, contractors, for the 

 completion of Divisions 1, 2, 6, 7, 9 and 10, Interstate Canal, 

 North Platte project, Nebraska. The work of the contractors 

 was greatly delayed by inclement weather and floods, but the 

 failure to complete the contract on time did not interfere 

 with the delivery of water through the canal at the time 

 agreed upon, and therefore caused no loss to the Government. 



AN IMPORTANT 6PINION ON PRACTICAL 

 QUESTIONS. 



The Assistant Attorney General has just rendered an 

 important opinion on the following questions : 



First -Whether one who has made a homestead entry, 

 not exceeding the farm unit limit, either under the provi- 

 sions of the Reclamation Act or under the general law, may 

 obtain water for such tract and also for one or more other 

 tracts of which he is the proprietor, provided the area held 

 in private ownership does not exceed the private ownership 

 limit fixed by the Secretary of the Interior. 



Second If the homestead entry was made prior to the 

 Reclamation Act withdrawal and contains an irrigable area in 

 excess of the farm unit limit whether, for the purposes under 

 consideration, the excess area is to be regarded as of the 

 same status as land in private ownership. 



The case in point is on the Minidoka project, Idaho, 

 where certain State lands fall within the irrigable area. The 

 lands under this project have been classified and the farm 

 unit fixed at 80 acres. The question arose as to whether 

 a person who makes a homestead entry of 80 acres under the 

 Minidoka project and also purchases 80 acres of State land 

 may secure water from the Government works for the irriga- 

 tion of both tracts. The point submitted involves a broad 

 question applicable to all of the reclamation propects. The 

 Assistant Attorney General holds that : 



"A person who has made or may make homestead entry 

 of lands withdrawn for disposal under the act of June 17, 

 1902 (32 stat. 288) and subject to the provisions, limitations 

 and conditions of said act, may obtain water for such tract 

 and may also obtain water for one or more tracts of which 

 he is the proprietor, not exceeding the limit of area fixed by 

 the statute, authorizing the use of water for land in private 

 ownership, or as fixed by the Secretary of the Interior. 



"If the entry was made prior to the withdrawal under the 

 Reclamation Act, the entryman may be entitled to the right 

 to the use of water for the irrigable area of the land entered, 

 and also for such area of lands held by him in private owner- 

 ship which added to the irrigable area of his entry will not 

 exceed 180 acres. 



"While there appears to be no restriction in the act upon 

 the right of a homesteader to the use of water for land owned 

 by him to the extent of area allowed to any one landowner, 

 it has been deemed advisable to administer the law through 

 the instrumentality of water users' associations which are or- 

 ganized by the owners of lands within the project. By the 

 contracts heretofore made with such associations by the 

 Secretary of the Jjiteripr, only those who are or may become 

 members of such associations will be accepted as entrymen or 

 applicants for the right to the use of water which may be 

 impounded or controlled by the works of such project. 



"Under the articles of incorporation and by the laws of 

 such associations, which are part of every contract, every 

 member or shareholder of the association, whether he be the 

 owner of lands or an entryman of public lands, is restricted 

 in his holding to 160 shares of stock, one share being allowed 

 to each acre or fraction thereof. So that, the Secretary of 

 the Interior, by entering into a contract with such asso- 

 ciations, has fixed 160 acres as the limit of the right to the 

 use of water by any one person, whether the land irrigated is 

 entered as public land or is held in private ownership, or 

 under both rights." 



The officials at Washington have adjusted the allotments 

 of the reclamation fund in accordance with recent estimates 

 from the general land office as tp the probable amount of this 

 fund during the next two years. The fundamental principle 

 has been to allot the funds to the projects where the work 

 is now furthest advanced and where returns to the fund may 

 be expected in the near future. The surveys and examina- 

 tions already made show that at least $100,000,000 could be 

 used to advantage in various parts of the arid West. The 

 total fund which will be available from the proceeds of public 

 lands for the years 1901-8 is estimated by the general land 

 office to be a little over $41,000,000. In order, therefore, 

 to continue the work, it is necessary that this money, or as 

 much of it as possible, be invested in works which will begin 

 to yield returns to the fund at the earliest possible date, 

 so that the money may be used over again as soon as possible 

 for the construction of other works. In several of the proj- 

 ects a number of years must elapse before the works will 

 be completed. Such projects will not be revenue producing 

 for some years. On the other hand, in Nevada the work has 

 advanced to a point where upward of 50,000 acres are already 

 under irrigation and revenue may be expected soon from this 

 area. Other projects are nearing completion and every possi- 

 ble effort is being made to finish these so that they may 

 begin to repay the cost. The allotments as recently approved 

 by the Secretary of the Interior now stand as follows : 



State. Project. Amount. 



1. Oregon 



Klamath* $2,000,000 



Klamath (future) 2,400,000 



Umatilla 1,000,000 



$5,400,000 



2. Arizona 



Salt River 4,539,161 



3. Montana 



Huntley 900,000 



L. Yellowstone 2,000,000 



Milk River 1,000.000 



Sun River 500,000 



4,400,000 



"4. Nevada 



Truckee-Carson 3,700,000 



5. Nebraska-Wyoming 



North Platte 3,330,000 



6. Idaho 



Minidoka 1,550,000 



Payette-Boise 1,490,000 



3,040,000 



7. California-Arizona 



Yuma 3,000,000 



8. Washington 



Okanogan 500.000 



Tieton 1,250,000 



Sunnyside 1,100,000 



Indian Res 100,000 



2,950,000 



9. Colorado 



Uncpmpahgre 2,500,000 



10. Wyoming 



Shoshone 2,250,000 



11. South Dakota- 



Belle Fourche 2,100,000 



12. North Dakota- 



Pumping projects 1,000,000 



L. Yellowstone 700,000 



1,700,000 



13. Utah- 



Strawberry Valley 1,250,000 



14. New Mexico 



Hondo 336,000 



Carlsbad 600,000 



Rio Grande 200,000 



1,136,000 



15. Kansas 



Garden City 260,000 



The total allotted to the Klamath project, Oregon, is $4.400,000: 

 of this $2.000,000 is immediately available and $2,400,000 to be set 

 aside for future funds. 



The Reclamation Service engineers are justly proud of 

 the progress being made on the Gunnison tunnel in Colorado, 



