acres. lots) and be limited to areas of not less than 40 nor more than 160 All the subdivisions forming each entry must be of contiguous tracts. The homestead entries so segregated may be of different areas in the same project, the intent being to provide, in each homestead entry, such quantity and quality of irrigable land as shall be sufficient for the support of a family. This classification of the lands will be reported by the Director of the Geological Survey to the Secretary of the Interior for incorporation in the public notice of the lands irrigable under each project, as required by section 4 of the reclamation act. In such list the area of irrigable land in each entry will be specified, as it will form the basis of the payment required for the water supplied from the irrigation works of the Reclamation Service. Upon the suggestion of the Director of the Geological Survey, the Secretary of the Interior, on July 6, 1903, issued instructions that whenever final proof was offered on any desert-land entry for lands within the limits of any of the withdrawals for the Reclamation Service, an inspection should be made by the engineers of the Reclamation Service to determine whether the entryman had complied with the desert-land laws and regulations. In pursuance of this decision a circular was issued to the engineers of the Reclamation Service, under date of July 21, 1903, containing the following provisions: By order of the Secretary, of July 6, 1903, the Reclamation Service will report on all desert-land entries for which final proof is offered, when the lands involved are included within withdrawals under the reclamation act. This office will be promptly advised of the offer to make such final proof; you will be notified thereof, and will, as soon as possible thereafter, have the land inspected by one of your assistants upon whose discretion and judgment you can rely. It is important that your report be promptly forwarded to this office, in order that there shall be no delay in the disposition of these cases by the General Land Office. WATER RIGHTS. On March 20, 1903, the Secretary of the Interior authorized the Director of the Geological Survey to designate suitable persons to file notices of water appropriation for the projects of the Reclamation Service, in the name of and on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior, in pursuance of the provisions of section 8 of the reclamation act. On September 5, 1903 (32 L. D., 254), the Secretary of the Interior decided that there is no authority to make such executive withdrawal of public lands in a State as will reserve the waters of a stream flowing over the same from appropriation under the laws of the State, or will in any manner interfere with its laws relating to the control, appropriation, use, or distribution of water. LANDS. Authority was given by the Secretary of the Interior by letters of March 20 and April 16, 1903, for the Director of the Geological Survey to designate suitable persons to enter upon negotiation for the purchase of such lands, rights of way, or water rights as may be needed for proposed irrigation projects. RIGHT OF WAY. The act of Congress approved August 30, 1890, provides that certain patents issued for lands west of the one-hundredth meridian shall contain a reservation of right of way for ditches or canals constructed under authority of the United States. This provision of law is one of great value in the operations of the Reclamation Service, for a large proportion of the lands crossed by its ditches or canals will be subject to this provision of law. A circular letter giving notice of the intention of the United States to claim the benefit of this reservation has been prepared and was approved by the Secretary of the Interior, July 25, 1903. It is intended to send a copy of the same, properly filled out, to all persons who own land which will be crossed by the line of any ditch or canal, when the location of the same has been definitely decided. The circular reads as follows: The reclamation service established under authority of the Secretary of the Interior in pursuance of the act of Congress of June 17, 1902 (52 Stat., 388), is about to undertake the construction of a ditch or canal across lands in section —, township—, range, meridian, of which it is understood that you are the owner. ད An examination of the records of the United States Land Office shows that your entry was made subsequent to October 2, 1888, and that the lands included therein are accordingly subject to the following provision of law: "That in all patents for lands hereafter taken up under any of the land laws of the United States, or on entries or claims validated by this act, west of the onehundredth meridian, it shall be expressed that there is reserved from the lands in said patent described a right of way thereon for ditches or canals constructed by the authority of the United States. (Act of Aug. 30, 1890, 26 Stat., 391.) The entries or claims validated by that act are such as may be asserted under entries made subsequent to October 2, 1888, as held by the Department in the circular of October 5, 1893. (See vol. 17, p. 521, of the Decisions of the Department of the Interior relating to public lands.) It is accordingly intended to exercise the right conferred by this law, and to take necessary right of way across the said lands for the construction and maintenance of the ditch or canal required in connection with the reclamation work authorized under the said act of June 17, 1902. For information concerning the location of the proposed canal or ditch, you are referred to the engineer in charge, Mr. —— at You are further informed that you will be entitled to receive water for the irrigation of your lands from the said canal or ditch, in accordance with the provisions of the said act and the regulations authorized thereunder by the Secretary of the Interior. RIGHT-OF-WAY APPLICATIONS. Inasmuch as there is a tendency to make speculative filings in order to profit by the opportunities which may arise in connection with the operations of the Reclamation Service to make sales of property or rights to the Government, or to take advantage of the knowledge obtained by means of its investigations, it was early found to be necessary to exercise a careful supervision over the rights of way applied for under the various acts of Congress. Accordingly, in pursuance of a request of the Director of the Geological Survey, the Secretary of the Interior, on July 14, 1902, instructed the Commissioner of the General Land Office to submit to the Director of the Geological Survey, for his consideration and report, all applications for rights of way over the lands withdrawn for the uses of the Reclamation Service. On September 18, 1902, these instructions were extended to cover rights of way applied for within the limits of forest reserves, inasmuch as the lands within these reserves might be utilized for irrigation works by the Reclamation Service and special withdrawals would not be necessary in such cases. The above instructions cover all rights of way, including those for railroads. On June 23, 1903, the Secretary of the Interior instructed the Commissioner of the General Land Office to submit to the Director of the Geological Survey all the applications received for rights of way for canals or reservoirs in any of the States or Territories subject to the operations of the reclamation act. SURVEYS. As the land which it is proposed to reclaim under some of the projects now being studied has not been subdivided in accordance with the public-land surveys, and as such subdivisions will be necessary in order to make proper descriptions for the disposal of the same, the matter was submitted to the Secretary of the Interior, who, on May 9, 1903, decided that the necessary public-land surveys could be ordered whenever the same should be found advisable. In the course of the topographic and other surveys in connection with the irrigation projects, it was found that in many cases the publicland-survey corners which had been marked on the ground were lost or destroyed, and in some cases had not been placed at all, although field notes had been submitted for the surveys. In connection with the work of the Reclamation Service, it is essential that the irrigable lands should be definitely located and be capable of exact description. Accordingly, upon presentation of the matter to the Department, the Secretary of the Interior, by letter of July 14, 1903, authorized the Director to instruct the engineers and topographers of the Reclamation Service to retrace and re-mark the public-land lines within the areas under survey with a view to their reclamation. A circular dated July 21, 1903, has been issued to the engineers in charge of the various projects covering this subject. It is in part as follows: In the work done in this connection the rules in the circular on the restoration of lost or obliterated corners, issued by the General Land Office, March 14, 1901, and the requirements of the Manual of Surveying Instructions for the Survey of Public Lands, issued by the General Land Office, must be followed. In restoring corners, it is important that there shall be no interference with vested rights where the lands have been settled upon, and that no corner should be regarded as missing until diligent search has been made for evidences of its original location. For this work it will generally be necessary to have copies of the field notes on file in the office of the surveyor-general of the State or Territory in which the work is located. The topographers and engineers should keep careful and complete record or field notes of the work, with descriptions of corners established, in the manner required by the regulations of the Land Office. Such field notes should be kept on file in the office of the engineer in charge. No corners are to be reestablished or re-marked unless they are required for the classification of irrigable lands or for the identification of lands the title to which must be acquired. ARTESIAN WELLS. By decision of March 3, 1903 (32 L. D., 278), the Secretary of the Interior held that the reclamation fund could not be used for drilling artesian wells for exploration. Such wells may be paid for from the reclamation fund only in cases when there is sufficient knowledge in advance to make it probable that water will be obtained therefrom in such quantities as could be used for the irrigation of lands, with the probability that the cost of the work will be returned to the reclamation fund. COOPERATION. NEVADA. Under the provisions of the act of the State legislature of Nevada, approved February 16, 1903 (Stat. Nevada, 1903, p. 18), the State engineer is authorized to examine and measure the discharges of the streams, and to make maps of the canals or ditches and of the irrigated and irrigable lands. The Reclamation Service being engaged in a thorough study of the water supply and of the irrigated and irrigable lands in the valleys of Truckee and Carson rivers, and also being engaged in making topographic maps of the streams, canals, and ditches in these valleys, it was found to be to the interests of both the State and the United States that the work under each be carried on without duplication and in such manner as to derive the greatest benefits from the funds expended. Accordingly a plan of cooperation was agreed upon by the chief engineer of the Reclamation Service and the State engineer of Nevada, which was approved by the acting Director of the Geological Survey. This plan was put into the form of a contract, of which the following is a copy: These articles of agreement, made and entered into this first day of July, 1903, by and between F. H. Newell, chief engineer Reclamation Service, for and on behalf of the United States Geological Survey, party of the first part, and A. E. Chandler, State engineer of the State of Nevada, party of the second part, witnesseth: Whereas, the United States Geological Survey is authorized by act of Congress approved June 17, 1902 (Stat. L., vol. 32, p. 388), to make surveys and examinations for the reclamation of arid lands; and Whereas, the United States Geological Survey is now prepared to make such surveys and examinations of lands in the valleys of the Truckee and Carson rivers; and Whereas the State engineer of the State of Nevada is directed by an act of the legislature of the State of Nevada, approved February 16, 1903 (Stat. Nevada, 1903, p. 18), to examine the streams of the State, and to make maps of the streams, canals, or ditches, and of the irrigated and the irrigable lands; Therefore, it is hereby agreed that the expenses of such examination and survey shall be divided between the parties in the manner following: The first party shall pay the subsistence expenses of the surveying party and the salaries of the field assistants engaged in the examination and mapping of the streams, canals, or ditches, and the irrigated and irrigable lands in the valleys of the Truckee and Carson rivers. The second party hereby agrees to place the assistant State engineer in charge of the said survey party, pay his salary, supply and provide for the team used by the said survey party, and pay the transportation expenses of the entire survey party between Reno and Dayton, Nev. All accounts to be paid by the first party shall be submitted in accordance with its rules and regulations. The original records and the resulting maps shall remain the property of the United States Geological Survey. Two photographic copies of the manuscript maps shall be furnished to the second party; and a reasonable number of copies of the printed sheets shall be furnished for official use of the office of the State engineer, in case the maps shall be engraved. The provisions of this agreement, when duly executed by and on behalf of both parties, and approved by the Director of the United States Geological Survey, all be considered as having been in effect on and after June 1, 1903. This contract is executed in duplicate, one copy to be kept by each of the parties. In testimony whereof, the said parties have hereunto set their hands the day and year first herein written. Approved. F. H. NEWELL, Chief Engineer Reclamation Service, for and on behalf of the first party. H. C. RIZER, Acting Director United States Geological Survey, PROTECTION OF HEADWATERS. One of the most important matters in connection with the permanent development of the water resources of the country is the protection of the catchment basins from destructive influences. It is essential to preserve in some localities a certain amount of forest cover, and to prevent the destruction of these by fire or by overgrazing. |