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Show meeting those requirements will be essential, and that farm management analysis geared to the specific conditions at the time of settlement is necessary to properly appraise and resolve the problem of capital requirements. Acreage Limitation The original Federal Reclamation Act of 1902 limited the irrigable land holdings to be fur- nished water by any Bureau of Reclamation irri- gation project to 160 acres for any landowner. This was construed to permit 320 irrigable acres to be held jointly by man and wife. Further- more, the law does not preclude cooperative farming by any number of owners, members of a family or otherwise, so long as each owns no more than the acreage limit for any one owner. The 1943 Columbia Basin Act directs the es- tablishment of "farm units" limited to 160 acres. In addition, it defines a "family" and prohibits delivery of project waters to or for more than one farm unit owned by any one family, or other landowner. The purpose of this limitation is to make family-sized farms available for settlement and to prevent large landholders from monopolizing the benefits of Federal irrigation projects. It has been the stated intent of Congress since the origi- nal act was passed to use these funds to promote the "family farm." Many different concepts of the "family farm" exist, but it generally encom- passes an economic unit which a family can work. Whatever the "family farm" may be, its promo- tion and preservation is the generally stated and implied policy of this Nation, "because it stands for values that we want to preserve in our national life." u Arguments Against Limitation.-Notwith- standing the high ideals implied in the acreage limitation, it has been difficult to enforce. Most of the objections have arisen in areas settled prior to the building of irrigation works by the Federal Government, and where large acreages had been 11 Schultz, Theodore W., Production and Welfare of Agriculture, Mlacmillan, New York, 1949, p. 30. put under irrigation by corporations or large operators. As an example, in the San Joaquin Valley of California, where water is desired to supplement existing irrigation, fully one-third of the acreage is in large holdings. The owners of these large holdings, and various groups and organizations which have fought the acreage limitation, claim that their farming operations demand large units for efficient operation. The San Joaquin Valley presents a specific problem which arises from a high degree of spe- cialization under a tenancy system. In some cases large numbers of holdings have been ag- gregated under one operator, and farmed to a single crop until productivity is destroyed. The operator than takes his specialized equipment to a new area and rents new lands, while another large operator, specializing in a different crop, takes his place in the old location. The rotation characteristic of an ordinary farm is not applied under these conditions. The size of the operating unit, in this case com- prising many holdings, is independent of owner- ship. The acreage limitation of the reclamation law is not effective in preventing such large-scale operation, and needs to be strengthened. One of the most formidable obstacles to the enforcement of the acreage limitation is in the appraisal of excess lands to be sold under the law. These lands must be appraised, according to the law, on the basis of their value without the fed- erally constructed project. The assumptions and procedures necessary to accomplish such ap- praisals are difficult to establish. In many parts of the West low-priced power for pumping underground water is available. This has greatly increased the use of pumped water for irrigation. In the place of costly drain- age works formerly needed to dispose of excess water, various methods are now being employed to supplement the natural storage capacity of the underground strata with water from constructed works. Some State laws permit the use of under- ground water by the owners of the overlying land without regard to its effect upon adjacent land- owners. Much work is now being done to re- strict the overuse of underground water sup- 170 |