463 CREDIT COLLECTIONS FROM DEFAULTING CONTRACTORS TO RECLAMATION FUND An act providing for depositing certain moneys into the reclamation fund. (Act of June 6, 1930, ch. 410, 46 Stat. 522) [Amounts collected to be covered into reclamation fund.]—Any amounts collected from defaulting contractors or their sureties, including collections heretofore made, in connection with contracts entered into under the reclamation law, either collected in cash or by deduction from amounts otherwise due such contractors, shall be covered into the reclamation fund and shall be credited to the project or operation for or on account of which such contract was made. (46 Stat. 522; 43 U.S.C. § 401) EXPLANATORY NOTES Background. Under the former rulings of the Comptroller General damages collected from defaulting contractors were deposited to the credit of miscellaneous receipts in the Treasury, and not to the reclamation_fund. 464 AMEND TAXATION OF LANDS OF HOMESTEAD AND DESERT-LAND ENTRYMEN ACT An act to amend the act entitled "An act to permit taxation of lands of homestead and desert-land entrymen under the reclamation act," approved April 21, 1928, so as to include ceded lands under Indian irrigation projects. (Act of June 13, 1930, ch. 477, 46 Stat. 581) [Sec. 1. Lands of homestead entryman and of entryman on ceded Indian lands taxable by State after proof of residence, etc.]—The act entitled "An act to permit taxation of lands of homestead and desert-land entrymen under the Reclamation Act," approved April 21, 1928, is amended to read as follows: "That the lands of any homestead entryman under the act of June 17, 1902, known as the Reclamation Act, or any act amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, and the lands of any entryman on ceded Indian lands within any Indian irrigation project, may, after satisfactory proof of residence, improvement, and cultivation, and acceptance of such proof by the General Land Office, be taxed by the State or political subdivision thereof in which such lands are located in the same manner and to the same extent as lands of a like character held under private ownership may be taxed. (46 Stat. 581; 43 U.S.C. § 455) "Sec. 2. [Lands of desert-land entryman taxable by State.]—The lands of any desert-land entryman located within an irrigation project constructed under the Reclamation Act and obtaining a water supply from such project, and for whose land water has been actually available for a period of four years, may likewise be taxed by the State or political subdivision thereof in which such lands are located. (46 Stat. 581; 43 U.S.C. § 455a) "Sec. 3. [Taxes a lien upon, and enforceable by sale of lands.]—All such taxes legally assessed shall be a lien upon the lands and may be enforced upon said lands by the sale thereof in the same manner and under the same proceeding whereby said taxes are enforced against lands held under private ownership; but the title or interest which the State or political subdivision thereof may convey by tax sale, tax deed, or as a result of any tax proceeding shall be subject to a prior lien reserved to the United States for all due and unpaid installments on the appraised purchase price of such lands and for all the unpaid charges authorized by law whether accrued or otherwise. The holder of such tax deed or tax title resulting from such tax shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges in the land of an assignee of such entryman on ceded Indian lands or of an assignee under the provisions of the act of June 23, 1910, as amended, or of any such entries in a Federal reclamation project constructed under said act of June 17, 1902, as supplemented or amended. (46 Stat. 581; 43 U.S.C. § 455b) "Sec. 4. [Extinguishment of liens in case lands revert to United States.]If the lands of any such entryman shall at any time revert to the United States for any reason whatever, all such liens or tax titles resulting from assessments levied after the date of this amendatory act upon such lands in favor of the State or political subdivision thereof wherein the lands are located, shall be and shall AMEND TAXATION OF ENTRYMEN LANDS 465 be held to have been, thereupon extinguished; and the levying of any such assessment by such State or political subdivision shall be deemed to be an agreement on its part, in the event of such reversion to execute and record a formal release of such lien or tax title." (46 Stat. 581; 43 U.S.C. § 455c) EXPLANATORY NOTES Editor's Note, Annotations. Annotations of opinions, if any, are found under the Act of April 21, 1928. Legislative History. S. 4318, Public Law 349 in the 71st Congress. S. Rept. No. 818. H.R. Rept. No. 12288. 466 TEMPORARY RIO GRANDE COMPACT An act giving the consent and approval of Congress to the Rio Grande compact signed at Santa Fe, New Mexico, on February 12, 1929. (Act of June 17, 1930, ch. 506, 46 Stat. 767) [Approval of Congress.]-The consent and approval of Congress is hereby given to the compact signed by the commissioners for the States of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas at Santa Fe, New Mexico, on the 12th day of February, 1929, and thereafter approved by the Legislature of the State of Colorado by act approved April 19, 1929, by the Legislature of the State of New Mexico by act approved March 9, 1929, and by the Legislature of the State of Texas by act approved May 22, 1929, which compact reads as follows: "RIO GRANDE COMPACT "The State of Colorado, the State of New Mexico, and the State of Texas, desiring to remove all causes of present and future controversy among these States and between citizens of one of these States and citizens of another State with respect to the use of the waters of the Rio Grande above Fort Quitman, Texas, and being moved by considerations of interstate comity, have resolved to conclude a compact for the attainment of these purposes, and to that end, through their respective governors, have named as their respective commissioners Delph E. Carpenter for the State of Colorado, Francis C. Wilson for the State of New Mexico, and T. H. McGregor for the State of Texas, who, after negotiations participated in by William J. Donovan, appointed by the President as the representative of the United States of America, have agreed upon the following articles, to wit: "ARTICLE I "(a) The State of Colorado, the State of New Mexico, the State of Texas, and the United States of America are hereinafter designated 'Colorado,' 'New Mexico,' 'Texas,' and the 'United States,' respectively. "(b) The term 'Rio Grande Basin' means all of the territory drained by the Rio Grande and its tributaries in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas above Fort Quitman, Texas. "(c) The term 'tributary' means any water course the waters of which naturally flow into the channel of the Rio Grande. "(d) The 'Closed Basin' means that part of the San Luis Valley in Colorado where the streams and waters naturally flow and drain into the San Luis Lakes and adjacent territory, and the waters of which are not tributary to the Rio Grande, "(e) 'Domestic' use of the water has the significance which attaches to the word 'domestic' in that sense at common law. 'Municipal' use means the use of TEMPORARY RIO GRANDE COMPACT 467 ! water by or through water works serving the public. 'Agricultural' use means the use of water for the irrigation of land. "(f) The term 'power' as applied to the use of water means all uses of water, direct or indirect, for the generation of energy. "(g) 'Spill' or waste of water at a reservoir means the flowage of water over the spillway, or the release of water through outlet structures other than for domestic, municipal, or agricultural uses, and losses incident thereto. "The provisions hereof binding each signatory State shall include and bind its citizens, agents, and corporations, and all others engaged in, or interested in, the diversion, storage, or use of the waters of the Rio Grande in Colorado or New Mexico, or in Texas above Fort Quitman. "ARTICLE II "The States of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas hereby declare: "(a) That they recognize the paramount right and duty of the United States, in the interests of international peace and harmony, to determine and settle international controversies and claims by treaty, and that when those purposes are accomplished by that means the treaty becomes the supreme law of the Nation; "(b) That since the benefits which flow from the wise exercise of that authority and the just performance of that duty accrue to all the people, it follows as a corollary that the Nation should defray the cost of the discharge of any obligation thus assumed; "(c) That with respect to the Rio Grande, the United States, without obligation imposed by international law and 'being moved by considerations of international comity,' entered into a treaty dated May 21, 1906 (Thirty-fourth Statutes, page 2953), with the United States of Mexico which obligated the United States of America to deliver from the Rio Grande to the United States of Mexico sixty thousand acre-feet of water annually and forever, whereby in order to fulfill that promise the United States of America, in effect, drew upon the States of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas a draft worth to them many millions of dollars, and thereby there was cast upon them an obligation which should be borne by the Nation; "(d) That for the economic development and conservation of the waters of the Rio Grande Basin and for the fullest realization of the purposes recited in the preamble to this compact it is of primary importance that the area in Colorado known as the Closed Basin be drained and the water thus recovered be added to the flow of the river, and that a reservoir be constructed in Colorado upon the river at or near the site generally described as the State Line Reservoir site. The installation of the drain will materially augment the flow of the river, and the construction of the reservoir will so regulate the flow as to remove forever the principal causes of the difficulties between the States signatory hereto; and "(e) That in alleviation of the heavy burden so placed upon them it is the earnest conviction of these States that without cost to them the United States |