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TUCUMCARI PROJECT

the date of enactment of this Act, and the application by the United States of any such payment in accordance with the terms of such contract, or (3) the enforcement of any such obligation by refusal to deliver water to lands covered by contractual provisions executed in accordance with said clause (d), except in those cases, if any, in which a sale or transfer consummated between December 27, 1938, and the date of enactment of this Act is only discovered after such date of enactment to have been made contrary to such contractual provisions or to said clause (d).

"Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to amend any contract, which has been entered into prior to the date of enactment of this Act, to conform with the provisions of the first section of this Act. The consent of the United States is hereby given to the recording, at the expense of the party benefited thereby, of any such amended contract and to the simultaneous discharge of record of the original contract. The consent of the United States is likewise given to the discharge of record, at the expense of the party benefited thereby, of any contract which the Secretary of the Interior or his duly authorized agent finds is rendered nugatory by the enactment of this Act."

1938 Amendment. The Act of April 9, 1938, 52 Stat. 211, amended the Act by: (1) adding the language in clause “(a)” beginning with the word "but", (2) adding the words "met by expenditure of moneys

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from the reclamation fund", and by adding clause "(d)". The 1938 Act appears herein in chronological order.

Project Name. The reclamation project conditionally authorized by this Act is the Tucumcari Project, and is referred to as such in the project feasibility report submitted to the President by the Acting Secretary of the Interior on October 31, 1938. The report was approved by the President on November 1, 1938.

Reference in the Text. Subsection B of section 4 of the Act of December 5, 1924 (43 Stat. 702), referred to in the text, requires a finding of feasibility by the Secretary of the Interior before any new project or division of a project shall be approved for construction. The Act is the Fact Finders' Act, which appears herein in chronological order.

Cross References, Amendatory Repayment Contracts. The Act of July 31, 1953, 67 Stat. 243, extended the benefits of subsection (b), section 7, of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939, to the Arch Hurley Conservancy District and authorized the amendment of its existing repayment contract. The Act of August 14, 1958, 72 Stat. 615, authorized a further amendment of the Districts' repayment contract. Both the 1953 and the 1958 Acts appear herein in chronological order.

Legislative History. S. 2086, Public Law 241 in the 75th Congress. S. Rept. No. 772. H.R. 7680 (companion bill).

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INTERIOR DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATION ACT, 1938

[Extracts from] An act making appropriations for the Department of the Interior for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1938, and for other purposes. (Act of August 9, 1937, ch. 570, 50 Stat. 564)

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[Elephant Butte Dam-Transfer of power facilities to United States-Power costs repaid from power revenues.]-Rio Grande project, New Mexico-Texas: For operation and maintenance, $350,000: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to enter into a contract with the El Paso County Water Improvement District Numbered 1 and the Elephant Butte Irrigation District of New Mexico by which the districts will be relieved of the obligation of making payment of the construction cost chargeable to the development of power of Elephant Butte Dam in the amount determined as equitable by the Secretary of the Interior in return for the conveyance by the said two districts to the United States of all the districts' right, title, interest, and estate in the use of said dam and other project works, including the project water supply, for the development of hydroelectric energy: Provided further, That in such contracts it shall be stated that the use of the dam, project works, and water supply for power purposes shall not deplete or interfere with the use thereof for irrigation purposes: Provided further, That the net earnings of the power plant and system belonging to the United States and any other available revenues shall be applied, until the cost thereof has been met, upon the cost of the power development, including (1) the cost of power facilities, (2) the amount invested, as herein authorized, in the cost of Elephant Butte Dam, and (3) the amount invested by the Bureau of Reclamation in Caballo Dam: Provided further, That after the cost of the power development has been met the net earnings of the power plant and system shall be disposed of as Congress may direct; (50 Stat. 593)

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[Gila project-Subject to Boulder Canyon Project Act and Colorado River Compact.]-Gila project, Arizona, $700,000; said Gila project, including the waters to be diverted and used thereby and the lands and structures for the diversion and storage thereof, to be subject to the provisions of the Boulder Canyon Project Act of December 21, 1928, and subject to and controlled by the provisions of the Colorado River Compact signed at Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 24, 1922; (50 Stat. 595)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Reference in the Text. The Boulder Canyon Project Act of December 21, 1928, and the Colorado River Compact, both re

ferred to in the text, appear herein in chronological order under the date of the Act.

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[Colorado-Big Thompson project-Repayment contracts.]-Colorado-Big Thompson project, Colorado: For construction in accordance with the plan described in Senate Document Numbered 80, Seventy-fifth Congress, $900,000: Provided, That no construction thereof shall be commenced until the repayment of all costs of the project shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior, be assured by appropriate contracts with water conservancy districts, or irrigation districts or water users' associations organized under the laws of Colorado, or other form of organization satisfactory to the Secretary of the Interior; (50 Stat. 595)

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Authorization. The Colorado-Big Thompson project was authorized by a finding of feasibility by the Secretary of the Interior, approved by the President on December 21, 1937, pursuant to section 4 of the Act of June 25, 1910, and subsection B of section 4 of the Act of December 5, 1924 (Fact Finders' Act). Both the 1910 and 1924 Acts appear herein in chronological order.

Water Rights Decree Entered. A decree was entered on October 12, 1955, in the Federal District Court for the District of Colorado, adjudicating the water rights of

Reimbursement requirements 1
Taxing power of district 2

1. Reimbursement requirements

all parties interested in the water supply for the project and involved in compensating arrangements made to satisfy other water users affected. This decree was modified by a consent decree entered April 16, 1964, in the same court, further clarifying water rights involved. United States v. Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Civil Nos. (consolidated) 2782, 5016, 5017. See also section 11 of the Act of April 11, 1956, the Colorado River Storage Project Act, with respect to the effect of the 1955 decree.

NOTES OF OPINIONS

The proviso in the Act of August 9, 1937, 50 Stat. 595, making the initial appropriation for the construction of an irrigation and power project, that "no construction thereof shall be commenced until the repayment of all costs of the project shall. be assured by appropriate contracts with water conservancy districts," is for interpretation in the light of the plan referred to in said act, which contemplates reimbursement by irrigation districts of construction costs chargeable to irrigation features of the project only, as distinguished from power features. Thus the appropriation may be considered available for the project-power features as well as ir

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rigation features-upon the execution of such repayment contracts as are necessary to cover repayment of the cost of the irrigation features only. 17 Comp. Gen. 763 (1938)

2. Taxing power of district

The constitutionality of the state Water Conservancy Act was unsuccessfully challenged by a landowner in the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which was the district organized to execute the repayment contract with the United States. The Court found the requisite public purpose to validate the passing of the Act, and refused to accept plaintiff's argument that the taxing power constituted depriva tion of property without due process of law. People ex rel. Rogers v. Letford, 102 Colo. 284, 79 P. 2d 274 (1938).

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566 INTERIOR DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATION ACT, 1938

[Casper-Alcova project-Protection of water rights and beneficial use in Colorado-Name changed to Kendrick project.]-Casper-Alcova project, Wyoming, $650,000: Provided, That in recognition of the respective rights of both the States of Colorado and Wyoming to the amicable use of the waters of the North Platte River, neither the construction, maintenance, nor operation of said project shall ever interfere with the present vested rights or the fullest use hereafter for all beneficial purposes of the waters of said stream or any of its tributaries within the drainage basin thereof in Jackson County, in the State of Colorado, and the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to reserve the power by contract to enforce such provisions at all times: Provided further, That from and after the passage of this Act, the reclamation project heretofore known as the Casper-Alcova project shall be known and designated on the public records as the Kendrick project, and that the change in the name of said project shall in no wise affect the rights of the State of Wyoming or the State of Colorado or any county, municipality, corporation, association, or person, and all records, surveys, maps, and public documents of the United States or of either of said States in which said project is mentioned or referred to under the name of the Casper-Alcova project shall be held to refer to said project under and by the name of Kendrick project; (50 Stat. 595)

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Sec. 4. [Short title.]-This Act may be cited as the "Interior Department Appropriation Act, 1938." (50 Stat. 616)

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Not Codified. Extracts shown from this Act are not codified in the U.S. Code.

Editor's Note, Provisions Repeated in Appropriation Acts. Provisions which are repeated in two or more appropriation acts

appear herein only in the act in which first used.

Legislative History. H.R. 6958, Public Law 249 in the 75th Congress. H.R. Rept. No. 786. S. Rept. No. 817. H.R. Rept. No. 1178 (conference report).

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STUDIES AND PLANS FOR RECLAMATION PROJECTS IN

OKLAHOMA

An act to provide for studies and plans for the development of reclamation projects on the Cimarron River in Cimarron County, Oklahoma; the Washita River in Oklahoma, and the North Canadian River in Oklahoma. (Act of August 19, 1937, ch. 705, 50 Stat. 718)

[Sec. 1. Surveys and investigations to determine feasibility.]—The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized (a) to conduct surveys and investigations in order to determine the feasibility and economic usefulness of the development of reclamation projects embracing certain lands in the Washita River Basin in Oklahoma, and certain lands in the North Canadian River Basin in Oklahoma, and certain lands in the Cimarron River Basin, Cimarron County, Oklahoma, and (b) if such development is determined to be feasible and economically useful, to prepare cost of estimates and designs for the construction of dams at such sites and such additional or incidental facilities as are necessary to carry out such development. (50 Stat. 718)

Sec. 2. [Funds for surveys.]—That any funds appropriated providing for surveys under the Reclamation Act may be used to carry out the provisions of this Act. (50 Stat. 718)

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Not Codified. This Act is not codified in the U.S. Code.

Legislative History. H.R. 7953, Public

Law 324 in the 75th Congress. H.R. Rept.
No. 1378. S. Rept. No. 1048.

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