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Page 2, line 11, after the word "stage", strike out the period and insert a colon and the following words:

"Provided further, That if the Chief of Engineers finds that it has been or will be necessary or advisable to change the location of any such flood-control work in order to provide the protection contemplated by this section, such change may be approved and/or authorized."

The purpose of this bill is to liberalize section 7 of the act of May 15, 1928, for flood control on the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

Under the construction given section 7. no provision was made for reimbursing of those on the tributaries above the backwater area, who, in order to protect themselves from further floods, proceeded to rebuild and repair the levees destroyed by the floods of 1927. It developed that this reconstruction and repair work would have come under the provisions of this section had it occurred subsequent to the passage of the act. Therefore, the reimbursement covered under the terms of this bill would apply only to work done between the flood of 1927 and the passage of the flood control act on May 15, 1928. Testimony before the committee disclosed that practically all of this emergency work was done by commissioners of levee districts and others pledging their personal credit or by different levee districts issuing certificates of credit.

Under further construction of section 7 it was found that where levees had been destroyed and it was impracticable to reconstruct them on the original right of way, the Army engineers were without power to relocate these levees. It was certainly not the intention of Congress to compel the engineers to reconstruct a levee upon a right of way which would be immediately destroyed.

Under the construction given this section, the engineers were unable to protect any levee constructed under authority of section 7 by the Government from the perils of caving banks.

Therefore, this bill proposes to reimburse those parties who from dire necessity were compelled to provide flood works before the Government authorized the expenditure for this purpose. In many instances it was disclosed by the testimony, this emergency work saved the Government money due to the fact that the floods against which this protection was given would have made greater inroads and made the task of the Government more difficult and expensive.

The engineers should have authority to relocate these levees in order to have them serve the most practical and useful purposes. The committee adopted an amendment providing that a relocation can be made only by authority of the Chief of Engineers, and with his approval. The engineers should have the authority also to protect any of those works for which the Government, under this section, stands responsible from the dangers of the caving banks.

Under the construction given section 7, outlets from the Mississippi River were not included, and the committee has therefore adopted an amendment which will include them. This will apply to emergency work on the Atchafalaya River in Louisiana.

Five million dollars were authorized under section 7 of the flood control act, of which amount only $1,033,543 have been spent.

In compliance with paragraph 2a of Rule XIII, the following shows the insertion made in the law by the bill:

SEC. 7. That the sum of $5,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated as an emergency fund to be allotted by the Secretary of War on the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers in rescue work or in the repair or maintenance of any flood-control work on any tributaries of the Mississippi River threatened or destroyed by flood, including the flood of 1927: Provided, That the unexpended and unallotted balance of said sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, may be allotted by the Secretary of War on the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers in the reimbursement of levee districts or others for expenditures for the construction, repair, or maintenance of any flood-control work on any tributaries or outlets of the Mississippi River that may be threatened, impaired, or destroyed by flood or that have been impaired, damaged, or destroyed by flood; and also in the construction, repair, or maintenance, and in the reimbursement of levee districts or others for the construction, repair, or maintenance of any flood-control work on any of the tributaries of the Mississippi River that have been impaired, damaged, or destroyed by caving banks or that may be threatened or impaired by caving banks of such tributaries, whether or not such caving has taken place during a flood stage: Provided further, That if the Chief of Engineers finds that it has been or will be necessary or advisable to change the location of any such flood-control work in order to provide the protection contemplated by this section, such change may be approved and/or authorized.

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71ST CONGRESS 2d Session

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SENATE

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REPORT No. 749

CONFERRING AUTHORITY TO FIX THE SIZE OF FARM UNITS ON DESERT-LAND ENTRIES

MAY 29, 1930.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. THOMAS of Idaho, from the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 1186]

The Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1186) to amend section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906, conferring authority upon the Secretary of the Interior to fix the size of farm units on desert-land entries when included within national reclamation projects, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass without amendment. The facts are fully set forth in House Report 947, Seventy-first Congress, second session, which is attached hereto and made a part of this report.

[House Report No. 947, Seventy-first Congress, second session]

The Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, to whom was rereferred the bill (H. R. 1186) to amend section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906, conferring authority upon the Secretary of the Interior to fix the size of farm units on desert-land entries when included within national reclamation projects, because of an inadvertence in not incorporating in the report the statute it is proposed to amend, report the bill favorably, and in compliance with the rules of the House of Representatives, section 731A, there is herewith presented the proviso sought to be amended in section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906, chapter 3359, Thirty-fourth Statutes, page 520, with the words stricken out printed in black brackets, and the parts inserted being indicated by italics:

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'Provided, That if after investigation the irrigation project has been or may be abandoned by the Government, time for compliance with the desert land law by any such entryman shall begin to run from the date of notice of such abandonment of the project and the restoration to the public domain of the lands withindrawn in connection therewith, and credit shall be allowed for all expenditures and improvements [heretofore] theretofore made on any such desert-land entry of which proof has been or may be filed; but if the reclamation project is carried to completion so as to make available a water supply for the land embraced in any such desert-land entry, the entryman shall thereupon comply with all

the provisions of the aforesaid act [action] of June [seventeenth,] 17, [nineteen hundred and two,] 1902, and shall relinquish within a reasonable time after notice as the Secretary may prescribe and not less than two years all land embraced within his desert-land entry in excess of [one hundred and sixty acres] one farm unit, and as to such [one hundred and sixty acres] retained farm unit, he shall be entitled to make final proof and obtain patent upon compliance with the regulations of said Secretary applicable to the remainder of the irrigable land of the project and with the terms of payment prescribed in said act of June [seventeenth,] 17, [nineteen hundred and two,] 1902, and not otherwise. But nothing herein contained shall be held to require a desert-land entryman who owns a water right and reclaims the land embraced in his entry to accept the conditions of said reclamation act."

Report 580 of February 1, 1930, to accompany H. R. 1186 follows:

"The Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1186) to amend section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906, conferring authority upon the Secretary of the Interior to fix the size of farm units on desert-land entries when included within national reclamation projects, having considered the same, report thereon with the recommendation that it do pass with the following amendment:

"Page 2, line 11, after the word "relinquish," insert "within a reasonable time after notice as the Secretary may prescribe and not less than two years.

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"The reasons for the passage of the measure grow out of the fact that as withdrawals are made for reclamation projects under the national reclamation laws some lands are included that are in private ownership or that have been entered under the desert land law and have not passed to patent.

"Under existing law the Secretary of the Interior, pror to the commencement of construction work upon a project, is authorized to require owners of private lands to dispose of any acreage at a price fixed by the Secretary of the Interior in excess of the acreage defined as adequate for a farm unit upon the particular project. The Secretary of the Interior is without authority, however, to require entrymen under the desert land act to reduce their holdings below 160 acres.

"In the interest of uniformity and of closer settlement, it seems desirable that when reclamation projects are undertaken by the Federal Government the Government ought to be given authority to define the acreage of farm units, so that reclamation would be carried forward in the interest of the largest number of people and not for the benefit of a limited number of landowners or persons who had made entry upon land and had not yet received patent when such entries were in acreages in excess of the prescribed unit.

"The pending bill (H. R. 1186) has been recommended for passage by the Secretary of the Interior, Ray Lyman Wilbur, in a letter addressed to the chairman of the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, dated December 14, 1929; also by the Commissioner of Reclamation, Elwood Mead, in a memorandum for the Secretary of the Interior, dated December 9, 1929.

"A similar bill was recommended for passage by the former Secretary of the Interior, Hubert Work, in the Seventieth Congress, in a report dated April 13, 1929.

"The documents referred to herein are made a part of this report for the convenience of the House."

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, December 14, 1929.

CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON IRRIGATION AND RECLAMATION,

House of Representatives.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I am in receipt of your request of December 5 for a report on H. R. 1186.

In this connection there is transmitted herewith a memorandum from the Commissioner of Reclamation; also a copy of a letter addressed to you by Secretary Work on April 13, 1928, reporting upon H. R. 12779, Seventieth Congress, first session, which is an identical bill.

I am glad to concur in the recommendation that H. R. 1186 be enacted into law. Very truly yours,

RAY LYMAN WILBUR, Secretary.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

Memorandum for the Secretary.

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION,
Washington, December 9, 1929.

Subject: Report on H. R. 1186, entitled "A bill to amend section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906, conferring authority upon the Secretary of the Interior to fix the size of farm units on desert-land entries when included within national reclamation projects."

Reference is made to letter addressed to you December 5, 1929, and referred to this office for report to you from the chairman of the House Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation submitting a copy of the above-described bill.

H. R. 1186 is identical with H. R. 12779, Seventieth Congress, first session, upon which the department submitted report under date of April 13, 1928. Copy of this report is inclosed for convenient reference. I recommend that a favorable report be made upon the bill.

The letter of December 5, 1929, is returned herewith.

ELWOOD MEAD, Commissioner.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, April 13, 1928.

Hon. ADDISON T. SMITH,

Chairman Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation,

House of Representatives.

MY DEAR MR. SMITH: Your letter of April 9, 1928, has been received inclosing for report a copy of H. R. 12779, "To amend section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906, conferring authority upon the Secretary of the Interior to fix the size of farm units on desert-land entries when included within national reclamation projects."

The bill proposes to amend section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906 (34 Stat. 519). This section deals with desert-land entries which, after being allowed, are included within the exterior limits of a withdrawal of land for the construction of a reclamation project. The Government development in the vicinity of the desert-land entries often interferes with the entrymen's plans for making improvements or for reclaiming their land, and section 5 of the existing act of June 27, 1906, allows the desert-land entrymen in such cases to obtain an extension of time, and later to obtain a water right from the Government project, if carried to completion. The existing act provides that if in such case the desert-land entryman obtains a water right from the Government project, he must reduce his holdings to 160 acres. H. R. 12779, if enacted, would require the desert-land entrymen in such ases to reduce their holdings to the area fixed by the Secretary of the Interior as sufficient for the support of a family. This area, on projects like the Owyhee, where the quality of the land is excellent, and the growing season is long, is often less than 160 acres, and the change in the law is, therefore, desirable, in the interest of closer settlement. The amendment would also require the desert-land entryman who depends upon the Government project for a water supply to comply with the regulations of the department applicable to the irrigable land of the project generally.

In line 5 of the second page of the bill the word "theretofore" is substituted for "heretofore" in the existing law. This seems to be necessary, as otherwise the entryman would be denied credit for improvements placed on his holdings subsequently to June 27, 1906, a result not intended at the present time. page 2, change "action" to "act".

I recommend the favorable consideration of the bill.

Line 10,

Very truly yours,

O

HUBERT WORK.

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