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<br />.. <br /> <br />.-63.- <br />The 160-Acre Linitrtion 1m, <br />------------ <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />Jean S. Breitenstein <br />10gnl Consultant, Colorf'.do Wnter Conservntion Board. <br />Denver, . Colo. ' <br /> <br />PREFACE: <br /> <br />After the follovring pnper Y!9S given, the San <br />Luis Valley has secured relief fron the excess land <br />provisions of the Federal ReclanD-tion Laws. . S. 2610, <br />to which reference isnade in the pnper, Tms unani- <br />nously passed by each House of the Congross and <br />approved by the President on June 27, 1952. This <br />law provides that GO far as tho San Luis Valley <br />Project is concerned the effective linitation is <br />th9t no one land owner nay receive a greater quantity <br />of project water than that reasonably necessary to <br />irrigate 480 acres of lRnd (Act of June 27, 1952, <br />Public LaY! 415, 82nd Congress, Chap. 478, Second Session). <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Developnent of the Colorado water resources in recent yeRrs has <br />beconean enterprise in whieh thEJ United Sta.tes,. the Sta.te, the local <br />cOrTlUnity, and the farners all pEJrforninporta.nt funetions. The pa.rtici- <br />pation of the United States has l'esulted fror.l the high cost of the <br />projects Yfhich renain to be built if we are to utilize fully our renain- <br />Yfater supplies. Public rather than private finaneing is essential. <br />Until sone nethod is provided fOr state or local financing, we nust <br />look to the United States for the' funds with which to construct the <br />projects of the.future. <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />Federal financing produces many problens. This is inevitable. <br />If ne ask the Federal Goverlll1ent to cone. into Colorado and build water <br />projocts.with its own noney, we must realize that the Federal Govern- <br />nent will have sonething to say ,'lbout the .construction and operation of <br />such proj.eots. We cannot have our cake and eat it too. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />One of the rules which the Congress of the United states has <br />established for Federal reclanation projects is thel60-acre law. <br />The idea of the 160-acre linit undoubtedly goes ba"k. to the Pree!'",ption <br />Act of 1841 and the Honestead Act of 1862. Its applicability to the <br />fertile lands of the Ohio,. Mississippi and Lower Missouri valleys has <br />been teste.d by tine.. . As the nore arid lands farther west were opened <br />for settlenent, Congress increased the 1:Lnit by the Desert Land Act of <br />1877, and the Stock-Raising Honestead Act of 1916. This latter statute <br />pernitted the entry upon 640 acres.of lands designated by the Secretary <br />of the Interior as "stock-raising lands." These various lans reflected <br />the national sentinent for despeeal of the public domain to settlers, <br />not to speculators, and in tracts suitable in size for fanny operation. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The 160-acre farn principle was contained in the original 1902 <br />reclanation act and nas been' restated in several anendatory acts. Of <br />these, section 46 of the Onnibus Adjustnent Act (act of May 25, 1925, <br />44 Stat. 649, 650) is nost pertinent. Therein provision is made for <br />c'ontracts between local districts and the United states for the.paynent <br />of project construction andoper!,l.tion costs. and it is stated that: <br />. . <br />