Public Law 75–269

(a) Appraisal of lands before irrigation.

The privately owned lands proposed to be irrigated under said project (including county lands and such State lands as the State may desire and be able to subscribe for irrigation under said project and to subject to the terms of this Act) shall have been impartially appraised in a manner and to the extent prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior for the determination of their value at the date of appraisal without reference to the proposed construction of the said irrigation works and without increment on account of the prospect of the construction of the said project.

(b) Repayment contracts.

A contract or contracts shall have been made with an irrigation or reclamation district or districts organized under State law providing for payment by the district or districts of that part of the cost of construction of the project allocated by the Secretary of the Interior as the part thereof properly chargeable to irrigation, the said cost of construction to be repaid within such term or terms of years as the Secretary shall find to be necessary, not to exceed the

Terms and conditions.

32 Stat. 388.

43 U. S. C. 391–404.

maximum term permitted under the Federal reclamation laws, the payments to be made in the manner and subject to the terms and conditions provided in the said reclamation laws and subject to enforcement by all of the means and remedies provided in the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and Acts supplementary

Provisos.

Excess land, exclusion from receiving water.

thereto or amendatory thereof: Provided, That every such contract with any district shall further require that all irrigable land held in private ownership by any one owner in excess of forty irrigable acres and all county and State lands which may be subscribed to or irrigated under the said project shall be designated as excess land and as such shall not be entitled to receive water from said project.

Refusal to sell excess lands; penalty.

The contract shall provide further that no owner of such excess lands in the said project shall receive water therefrom for any part of the lands owned by him if and so long as he shall refuse to sell any excess lands owned or held by him under terms and conditions satisfactory to the Secretary of the Interior and at prices fixed in the appraisals made and approved as hereinabove provided. The Secretary

Disposal of excess holdings a condition precedent to receiving water.

of the Interior may require each landowner, as a condition precedent to receiving water from the said irrigation works, to execute a valid recordable contract wherein he shall agree to dispose of excess holdings then or thereafter owned by him in the manner provided in this Act and in the contract between his district and the United States, and wherein the said landowner also shall confer upon the Secretary of the Interior an irrevocable power of attorney to make any such sale on his behalf. For the purpose of determining excess lands under the provisions of this Act husband and wife shall be considered separate persons and each may hold not to exceed forty irrigable acres as nonexcess lands or husband and wife together may hold eighty irrigable acres of community property as such nonexcess lands: Provided further, That as to any part of the

Size of farm units.

irrigable lands of the said project for which the Secretary of the Interior shall determine that farm units of less than forty irrigable acres would be sufficient to support a family, he may approve and cause to be filed farm unit plats establishing farm units of less than forty acres but not less than ten acres and in that event all lands held in any one ownership in excess of one farm unit as shown on such plat shall be considered excess lands subject to the provisions of this Act applicable to excess lands: Provided further, That in

Sale above appraised value.

addition to the foregoing provisions, every such contract with any district shall also provide, with respect to all irrigable lands whether initially excess or nonexcess, that whenever any land is sold at a price in excess of the sum of the appraised value of the arid land, the appraised value of improvements made thereon after the date of the original appraisal, and the amount of irrigation construction costs actually paid for that land, then, before the new owner shall be entitled to receive water from the project, a proportionate part of the said excess or incremented value shall be paid to the United States as follows: If such payment is made to the United States

Payment to United States; application to construction installments.

more than fifty months after such sale at an excessive price has been made, then as a prerequisite to the right to receive water all of the incremented value shall be paid to the United States to apply on construction installments to come due on such land in inverse order of their accrual; if payment is made in less than fifty months but more than forty-nine months after the date of such sale, then 99 per centum of such incremented value or excess of sale price shall be thus paid and applied; if payment is made in less than forty-nine but more than forty-eight months after the date of such sale, then 98 per centum of such incremented value or excess of sale price shall be thus paid and applied, and so on for earlier payment allowing an additional reduction of 1 per centum for each month, so that in the event that such payment is made to the United States within one month after the date of such sale, then the percentage of the incremented value required to be paid to the United States for application to construction costs as a prerequisite to the right to receive water shall be 50 per centum thereof: Provided further, That each

Scope extended.

district contract may include a provision which, subject to authorization and validation thereof by the State of Washington, shall require that all irrigable lands which are allowed by the owners thereof without objection to remain in such district until after the judicial confirmation of the organization of the district and of the regularity and validity of said contract and the proceedings authorizing it shall be considered as automatically subjected to the provisions of the excess land clauses and incremented value clauses hereinbefore provided for, such obligation to be impressed on the title to the land and to be considered equivalent to a covenant running

Filing objections.

with the land. The said provision, however, shall not apply to any landowner who, prior to the entry of the judicial decree of confirmation, shall file with the district and duly record as an instrument

Renunciation of water rights.

affecting title to his land, a notice of his objection to the said obligation and of his renunciation of the right of the said land to receive water through, from, or by means of any works constructed by the United States in connection with such project: And provided further,

Lands excepted.

That the foregoing four provisos shall not apply to any lands in the State of Washington which have already been developed and are now being cultivated with the aid of water from sources other than the said Grand Coulee project and for which additional water may be desired.

(c) Ratification, etc., by State of Washington.

The State of Washington by appropriate legislation shall have authorized, adopted, ratified, and consented to all the provisions of this Act insofar as such provisions or any of them, in whole or in part, may come within the scope of State jurisdiction or authority or be applicable to State lands.