Volume 68 · 1027
Public Law 83–741
To provide for the construction, maintenance, and operation of the Michaud Flats project for irrigation in the State of Idaho.
Approved August 31, 1954
Statutory text
AN ACT
To provide for the construction, maintenance, and operation of the Michaud Flats project for irrigation in the State of Idaho.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to construct, maintain, and operate the Michaud Flats project for irrigation in the State of Idaho substantially in accordance with the plans set forth in the report of the Bureau of Reclamation Regional Director of Region 1, dated October 22, 1953, with such modifications as the Commissioner of Reclamation, with the approval of the Secretary, may find proper in order to provide for the most efficient accomplishment of all the purposes of such plans. Such construction, maintenance, and operation shall be in accordance with the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary
thereto) as far as such laws are not inconsistent with the provisions of section 2 of this Act.
Sec. 2.
The project’s water users shall be required to assume an
Repayment of costs.
obligation to repay out of that part of the total construction cost of the project which the Secretary determines to be properly allocable to irrigation, so much as the Secretary finds to lie within their ability to repay prior to the time when, account being taken of the application of power revenues as provided in part (b) of this section, full return of the irrigation allocation is accomplished. Such repayment shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Federal reclamation laws as modified with respect to the Michaud Flats project by the following:
Payments by the contracting organization shall be scheduled,
Annual installments.
under a contract conforming to the provisions of this Act, on the basis of uniform charges for like classes of land in each unit of such project which will result in the establishment of annual installments which are, as nearly as practicable, of an amount equal to the ability of such water users to pay in each year having regard to the volume of production of such water users, prices they receive for their farm products, and their production and living costs.
Net power revenues received from the Palisades project, Idaho,
Application of Palisades project revenues.
and any developments combined therewith for payout purposes under the provisions of the second sentence of section 2 of the Act of September 30, 1950 ( 64 Stat. 1083), shall, after payout of said projects is accomplished pursuant to law, be applied (concurrently with continued payments by the water users) to payment of the irrigation allocation of the Michaud Flats project until full repayment of said allocation is accomplished.
The Secretary of the Interior shall require that a replacement
Replacement reserve.
reserve of an amount sufficient to meet replacement costs likely to be incurred before the end of the repayment period established under the provisions of part (a) above, shall be established and maintained in connection with such Michaud Flats project.
Sec. 3.
To aid in the development of not more than twenty-one
Fort Hall Indian Reservation, Michaud division.
thousand acres of irrigable land in the Michaud division of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, as heretofore, authorized by the Act of February 4, 1931 (46 Stat. 1061), and hereby reauthorized for construction, operation, and maintenance without regard to the provisions of said Act, the Secretary is authorized—
to reserve for the benefit of those lands when needed, but
Storage capacity reservation.
without prejudice to the interim use thereof for other purposes proper under reclamation laws, eighty-three thousand and nine hundred acre-feet of storage capacity in Palisades Reservoir and forty-seven thousand and seven hundred acre-feet of that portion of the storage capacity in American Falls Reservoir which was set aside for lands in the Michaud area generally by section 3 of the Act of September 30, 1950 (64 Stat. 1083); and
to account for the return of so much of the cost of said
Return of cost.
development (including the cost of the aforesaid storage space in Palisades and American Falls Reservoirs) as the Secretary finds cannot be repaid by the water users on terms substantially similar to those provided in section 2 of this Act, except for the application of the provisions of the Act of July 1, 1932 (47 Stat.
564), and the Act of March 1, 1907 ( 34 Stat. 1015, 1024), which are specifically made applicable to the project authorized by this section and Indian lands susceptible of irrigation under said project, by application of net power revenues of the Palisades project and any developments combined therewith for payout purposes under the provisions of the second sentence of section 2
64 Stat. 1083.
of the Act of September 30, 1950, after payout thereof is accomplished pursuant to law.
Construction of works to serve the Michaud division lands
Conditions.
shall be undertaken only if, in consideration thereof and of the additional benefits authorized in the preceding sentence of this section, such appropriate arrangements as may be required in the circumstances are first made, by contract or otherwise, with respect to a water supply for said lands which, among other things—
limit that supply to the yield of the space in Palisades and
Water supply limit.
American Falls Reservoirs as hereinbefore set forth and to that obtained by the pumping of ground water in an average annual amount of not more than twenty-two thousand and four hundred acre-feet; and
consent to a priority in time and right in such beneficial
Snake River waters.
Priority.
consumptive uses of the waters of the Snake River, and its tributaries, as are established under the laws of the State of Idaho prior to the date of this Act as against any use of the waters arising on or flowing through the Fort Hall Bottoms within the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, including, but not limited to, the intercepted flow of Ross Fork Creek, the Portneuf River below Pocatello, Big Jimmy Creek, Big Spring Creek, and Clear Creek, for the irrigation of the lands of the Michaud division of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.
The United States consents to the making of the arrangements aforesaid, and its construction, operation, and maintenance of said works shall constitute a waiver of any of its rights to the use of waters arising on or flowing through the Fort Hall Bottoms within the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, including, but not limited to, the intercepted flow of Ross Fork Creek, the Portneuf River below Pocatello, Big Jimmy Creek, Big Spring Creek, and Clear Creek, for the irrigation of the lands in the Michaud division of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.
Sec. 4.
The Act of February 4, 1931 (46 Stat. 1061), authorizing
Repeal.
the development of the Michaud division of the Fort Hall irrigation project is hereby repealed.
Sec. 5.
In crediting the net power revenues from the Palisades project
Crediting of Palisades project revenues.
to the projects authorized in sections 2 and 3 of this Act, after payout of the Palisades project pursuant to law, said revenues shall be applied ratably to the two projects in proportion to the total construction costs thereof.
Sec. 6.
Except as provided in section 3 (b), nothing in this Act shall affect any rights in and to the waters of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation or the Snake River and its tributaries.
Nothing in this Act shall affect the land tenure, allotment, or ownership on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.
Sec. 7.
There are hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any
Appropriation.
moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $5,500,000 for construction of the works authorized in section 1 of this Act, and $5,500,000 for construction of the works authorized in section 3 of this Act, plus such additional amount, if any, as may be required by reason of changes in the costs of construction of the types involved in these projects, as shown by engineering indices. There are also authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be required for the operation and maintenance of said works.
Approved August 31, 1954.