252 SALE OF WATER FOR MISCELLANEOUS PURPOSES

253

STUDY OF IRRIGATION IN IMPERIAL VALLEY

An act to provide for an examination and report on the condition and possible irrigation development of the Imperial Valley in California. (Act of May 18, 1920, ch. 188, 41 Stat. 600)

[Sec. 1. Study of irrigation in Imperial Valley authorized.]-The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to have an examination made of the Imperial Valley in the State of California, with a view of determining the area, location, and general character of the public and privately owned unirrigated lands in said valley which can be irrigated at a reasonable cost, and the character, extent, and cost of an irrigation system, or of the modification, improvement, enlargement, and extension of the present system, adequate and dependable for the irrigation of the present irrigated area in the said valley, and of the public and privately owned lands in said valley and adjacent thereto not now under irrigation, which can be irrigated at a reasonable cost from known sources of water supply, by diversion of water from the Colorado River at Laguna Dam. (41 Stat. 600)

Sec. 2. [Report.]—The said Secretary shall report to Congress not later than the 6th day of December, 1920, the result of his examination, together with his recommendation as to the feasibility, necessity, and advisability of the undertaking, or the participation by the United States, in a plan of irrigation development with a view of placing under irrigation the remaining unirrigated public and privately owned lands in said valley and adjacent thereto, in connection with the modification, improvement, enlargement, and extension of the present irrigation systems of the said valley. (41 Stat. 600)

Sec. 3. [Detailed costs-Storage.]-The said Secretary shall report in detail as to the character and estimated cost of the plan or plans on which he may report, and if the said plan or plans shall include storage, the location, character, and cost of said storage, and the effect on the irrigation development of other sections or localities of the storage recommended and the use of the stored water in the Imperial Valley and adjacent lands. (41 Stat. 600) Sec. 4. [Financing.]—The said Secretary shall also report as to the extent, if any, to which, in his opinion, the United States should contribute to the cost of carrying out the plan or plans which he may propose; the approximate proportion of the total cost that should be borne by the various irrigation districts or associations or other public or private agencies now organized or which may be organized; and the manner in which their contribution should be made; also to what extent and in what manner the United States should control, operate, or supervise the carrying out of the plan proposed, and what assurances he has been able to secure as to the approval of, participation in, and contribution to the plan or plans proposed by the various contributing agencies. (41 Stat. 600)

Sec. 5. [Appropriation.]-For the purpose of enabling the Secretary of the Interior to pay not to exceed one-half of the cost of the examination and report

254

STUDY OF IRRIGATION IN IMPERIAL VALLEY

herein provided for, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of $20,000: Provided, That no expenditure shall be made or obligation incurred hereunder by the Secretary of the Interior until provision shall have been made for the payment of at least one-half the cost of the examination and report herein provided for by associations and agencies interested in the irrigation of the lands of the Imperial Valley. (41 Stat. 601)

255

SALE OF SURPLUS IMPROVED PUBLIC LANDS

An act to provide for the disposition of public lands withdrawn and improved under the provisions of the reclamation laws, and which are no longer needed in connection with said laws. (Act of May 20, 1920, ch. 192, 41 Stat. 605)

[Sec. 1. Appraisal of land-Manner of sale-Payment of purchase price.]— Whenever in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior any public lands which have been withdrawn for or in connection with construction or operation of reclamation projects under the provisions of the act of June 17, 1902, known as the reclamation act and acts amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, which are not otherwise reserved and which have been improved by and at the expense of the reclamation fund for administration or other like purposes, are no longer needed for the purposes for which they were withdrawn and improved, the Secretary of the Interior may cause said lands, together with the improvements thereon, to be appraised by three disinterested persons to be appointed by him and thereafter sell the same, for not less than the appraised value, at public auction to the highest bidder, after giving public notice of the time and place of sale by posting upon the land and by publication for not less than thirty days in a newspaper of general circulation in the vicinity of the land; not less than one-fifth the purchase price shall be paid at the time of sale, and the remainder in not more than four annual payments with interest at 6 per centum per annum, payable annually, on deferred payments. (41 Stat. 605; 43 U.S.C. § 375)

1. Publication of notice of sale

NOTE OF OPINION

In the Acts of February 2, 1911, and May 20, 1920 relating to the sale of lands on Federal irrigation projects, the language "by publication for not less than 30 days" deals with the period during which notice is to be given, and is not a statutory requirement that publication be had for 30 consecu

tive days in a daily newspaper. Where a weekly newspaper of general circulation is the paper nearest the land, the purpose of the statutes will be fully subserved by publication in five consecutive issues of such newspaper. Departmental decision, June 21, 1920, printed at page 382, Reclamation Record, August 1920.

Sec. 2. [Patents to land sold-Amount sold to one person-Duties of purchasers Citizenship.]—Upon payment of the purchase price the Secretary of the Interior is authorized, by appropriate patent, to convey all the right, title, and interest of the United States in and to said lands to the purchaser at said sale, subject, however, to such reservations, limitations, or conditions as said Secretary may deem proper: Provided, That not over one hundred and sixty acres shall be sold to any one person, and if said lands are irrigable under the project in which located they shall be sold subject to compliance by the purchaser with all the terms, conditions, and limitations of the reclamation act applicable to lands of that character: Provided, That the accepted bidder must, prior to issuance of patent, furnish satisfactory evidence that he or she is a citizen of the United States. (41 Stat. 606; 43 U.S.C. § 375)

256

SALE OF SURPLUS IMPROVED PUBLIC LANDS

1. Form of patent

NOTE OF OPINION

utes. Departmental decision, January 10, 1921, re Vandalia Ditch & Development Co., Milk River project. Reclamation Record of March 1921, p. 126.

Patent under this act should not be executed by the Secretary of the Interior but should be issued from the General Land Office under section 458 of Revised StatSec. 3. [Disposition of proceeds of sales.]—The moneys derived from the sale of such lands shall be covered into the reclamation fund and be placed to the credit of the project for which such lands had been withdrawn. (41 Stat. 606; 43 U.S.C. § 375)

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Cross Reference, Sale of Land Not Needed for Irrigation Works. The Act of February 2, 1911, 36 Stat. 895, authorizes the sale of lands acquired under the Reclamation Act, together with the improvement thereon, whenever such lands are not needed for the purposes for which they were acquired. The 1911 Act appears herein in chronological order.

Cross Reference, Sale of Property Appraised at Less than $300. Section 11 of the Act of August 4, 1939, the Reclamation Project Act, provides that where property to be sold under this Act and the Act of February 2, 1911, is appraised at not to exceed $300, the property may be sold privately or publicly without compliance with the provisions of this Act and the 1911 Act as to notice, publication and mode

1. Construction with other laws

of sale. Both the 1911 and 1939 Acts appear herein in chronological order.

Cross Reference, Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949. Section 3(d)(1) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 defines "property" as used therein to include lands withdrawn or reserved from the public domain which the Secretary of the Interior, with the concurrence of the Administrator of General Services, determines are not suitable for return to the public domain for disposition under the public land laws because they are substantially changed in character by improvements or otherwise. This excerpt from the Act, which was approved June 30, 1949, appears herein in chronological order.

Legislative History. S. 795, Public Law 212 in the 66th Congress. S. Rept. No. 367. H.R. Rept. No. 903.

NOTE OF OPINION

The Act of August 27, 1935, 49 Stat. 885 (authorizing the Director of Procurement with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, to sell excess lands of the United

States) is general legislation and does not repeal the special acts of February 2, 1911, and May 20, 1920. Solicitor's Opinion, M28724 (September 24, 1936). Accord 38 Atty. Gen. 549 (1937).