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;, (t These agreements. referred to by the bureau as "recordJblr: ;:ontLlLt5." gl\"t: owners ]0 years (0 di~posc of th-:ir ::.xce~s acreagr:. pro\ll.kd that IheyJ.(lSO\\ith~1111 re.lpinf windfall bt.'ndJIS from the In- creased \Jlur: (If the land attributable tll Irrigation. CrHlC~ of the burr:;J.U S,J,y it has been la.\ in lt~ sUP<';r\ l':'oHm IJ( (::\C('':I5 land ':lJ.ks J.nu in ilS policing of k<lsing schemes that h:l\e perrnilted the Jssembl~ 01 largl' tracts IJf land. sales to ;Ibsent.::e Qwners and lea~es to Jar!:!!:' ftJrm-manJ,\!ement synJic;ltes The C'~tcnt 0f the p;obh:m rem~ins unclear tx''-.;lllS.... since 19:6. the hureau has heen one step removed from the actual determination of who IS M is nUl eligIble to rccei\t: federal Irrigation water. For [he pase 50 ye3rs. masl of the bureau's dealings ha\e been with separatd~ incorpor:lted Irrigation dis- tri(;ts or .....ater user org:.-mi7_atlOns. The bureau deli\ers the water in bulk and it is up [0 {he ltll.:al unics [0 enforce Jcn:age limi!3tions and rcp0rt any probkms or violations. The: reports from the indi\ldual dlS. trlclS do not indicate any maJor prob- lems. As of December /976. only 95./88 acres of land under 761 ownerships \\ere reported 10 be receiving \.\ater for which theIr eligibility could not be eSlablished. This represents less than I per cent of the J r miHion acres thai (he bureau says are capable of being irrigated. Another ~50.- 000 acreas of "e:'<.ces5" lands are reponed to be receiving water legilimately. either because they 3re under recordJble con- Iract to be sold .:It 3 later date or else are covered b) special exceptions. In addi- tlOn. 800.000 '\:xces"" acres withIn irrig:.l.- tlOn districts reportedly are not receIving iederal water. Eli'en in the controversial WestJands District of California's Central Valley Project. where individual farm opera- tions average 2,889 acres in size. much of the "excess" land is at leas I technically eligible for ",ata because it is under recordable contract to be sold. The problems in WeSllands deal with how the bnd sales h:::l.\"e.been carried out and how 160-acre parcels ha\e been regrouped shortly after being sold. (For mort! on Wesrlands. see box. rhis page.) California's Imperial Valley was rocked by a recent court decision thai holds that it is subiect to the 160-acre limitation. after all. Thai deC'ision is now under appeal. (See box, p. /52. for a report on pending courr cases.) If the irrigators lose, roughly half of the 5~O.000-:lcre district will exceed the limitalion. Nonetheless, the Bureau of Reclama- tion still sticks to its contention that its projects "provide homes and livelihoods t Watching Over the Westlands There are some \.\:1tef proj~cts th.][ mah e\en Congress nervous. One ~u(h endca\ or is the San Luis Unit of the Bureau of Reclam::nion's grand 5cheme fur helpin~ Cailfornia irrigate its long CenlfJI Valley. formed by the Sacramento and San Jl1~H-luin Ri\ers. In..:iuJed in ~he S;.tn LUls Linn is the 5S0.000-acre \\'e~tbnJs Distnct-the nation's largest Irrigation district. Originally Juthori,cd in 1960. the project has created headaches prop0rtion- ate to its sileo II has heen criticized for subslamial cost 0\erruns. lImHed repay- ment and exacerbation l1f do\\'nstre.lm v.;ller problems. pOints that the Inferior Depan.menl now concedes. Additionally. the Westlands DI:-tricl has come under attack f()r Its failure to bre:Jk up large corpora Ie land hoJdln,g:o ..nJ 6rahli~h reSident f:lTT:ily t"armo::rs 35 required by the natlon's 75-~ear~old reclamaliCln law Rather than pick up the tab for the rapidly rising costs ufthc: project. C(lngn:s~ la:ot \Iay pa~sC'd a 1;1\\ cJlling: for a ta~k force to Ime~ligate 10 separate areas of contro\ersy that have enveloped the West lands unden<lkmg. The bill also authorIZed an additlOnal 531 million I('I keep lhe project going. President Carter signed the bill last June 15. and on the same d..y, Interior Secretary Cecil D. Andrus held J press conference 10 Sacramento. Calif.. t'J an- nounce the formatIon of the task. force. The stud\' unit. headed bv assistant In- terior secretary Gu~ R. Martin, reported back 10 Congress at the fi~st of the ye..r. Andrus de~cnbed the lengthy repor! as ".wbering" and said it \.\ill be- used by the department "to impro\'e its managemenl of existing: and future reclamation projecls and to serve as a baSIS for. . . in making: needed C'hangt's in the San Luis UnIt authoflzing act and in reclamation law in general." The 12-membtT task force--with lhree members submitting dissenting ,,'ie\\.~-crjcicizt'd ;he Bure.1u of Re-cl<.imation's lack of openness3}-lOlJI CDsl o\.er- runs and ch;.tnges in project features. It strongly urged thaI congressional re- aUlhorization be required for all SIgnificant changes. as opposed to simply in- creasing appropriations levels. The study group said that the federal rec:lam~Hion agency should give water 4uality conslder:ltions equal priorilY wilh .Jgricultural commitments .Jnd that ir should entC'r Into ag.reements with state authorities on environmentalslandards bdore additional project features are approved. The task force supponed the concept of an acreage limitation-although not nece~sarily 160 acres per owner-and stressed that residency requirements should be ~nf(Jrc~d 10 foster [he go.;.! I offamily' f.1rming in reclamation projects. Compktion of the San Luis Unit-subject 10 congressional reauthoriza- tIOn-Was recllmml'nded by the study gfllllp. but it urged no further feder:J1 in- vestment in facilities for recovering ground ""ater until an enforcc:1ble lL'cal 'iyslem for ground water managemenl is in place. for about 146.000 farm families." While only about 95.000 of those units are said to be "full-time" farms. nevertheless. based on the bureau's report that its water deliveries irrigate 9.5 million acres. the average hind holding in federal projects comes out to only 100 acres_ That does not explain the anxiety aroused by the Caner Administration;s regulawry proposals. Under the Ad- ministration's plan, a husband and wife would be eligible to receive water for 640 acres-a square mile of farmland- provided that no more than 320 acres are o",ned and no more than 320 leased. With two children exercising owning and leas- ing pri\ ileges. the same family's limit would rise to 1,280 acres. Beyond that. the Administration from the outset has indicated it would be recepti.....e [Q con- gressional action setting a larger acreage limit if Congress deems that it's ap- propri..te. RESIDENCY R. Keith Higginson, brought by An. drus from Idaho to serve as com- mis:sioner of the Bureau of Rc:c1am..tjon. is "the man in \he midd\e" at Interlor. He is there to c..rry out the policies of the Secret..ry and the President while at the same time \.\innmg the confidence and cooperarion of a pOlentially hostile bureaucracy. In an interview. Higginson shed some light on the adverse reaction-the bureau's m:til IS said to be running three !O one against the Adminisrrarion-lO the proposed irrigation regulations. While conceding thaI abuses have oc- curred in Westbnds and lhat prospecti\'e small farmers have been denied a chance to procure exce!lS )ands at the low prices intended by the 1902 act, Higginson feels that, on the whole. the acreage limitation dot:s not represent a severe problem. NATIO:o..'Al.. JOUR:"fAl.. 1/2B/78 151