OCR Text |
Show 202 ing June 30, 1949, the total amount in the Fund was $41,136,791 .*" Repayment and Return of Reimbursable Costs.-As earlier noted, repayment of construction costs into the Recla- mation Fund was a basic principle of the 1902 Act.293 "This principle has been maintained, although from time to time repayment periods have been lengthened to meet changing con- ditions." 294 The evolution of these changes may best be por- trayed by their review in three categories, those concerning the nature of the repayment obligation assumed, those concerning the identity of the obligor, and those concerning the repayment period. In addition, we shall then refer to certain other aspects of repayment provisions, and to some administrative interpre- tations which have been applied. Nature of Repayment Obligation.-Under the 1902 Act each water user was required to assume a charge per acre de- termined with a view of returning to the Reclamation Fund the "estimated cost of construction/' in not to exceed 10 annual installments.295 Under that Act, title did not pass to the home- steader until final payment, with the result that his credit was restricted and he was unable to dispose of any part of his land.296 A statute remedying this situation in 1912 included a requirement that every patent and water-right certificate expressly reserve to the United States a prior lien on the land.297 The foregoing repayment provision encompassed all of the "estimated cost of construction," without distinction as to the purpose served. The total obligation for project costs was thus imposed upon the water users. 292 Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, table 15, p. 71 (1949). 293 Act of June 17,1902, § 4, 32 Stat. 388, 389, 43 U. S. C. 419, 461. 294 National Irrigation Policy-Its Development and Significance, Sen. Doc. No. 36, 76th Cong., 1st sess., p. 30 (1939). See also Hearings before the House Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation on H. R. 6773 and H. R. 6984, 76th Cong., 1st sess., p. 20 (1939), the latter becoming the Recla- mation Project Act of 1939. 298 Act of June 17,1902, § 4, 32 Stat. 388, 389, 43 U. S. C. 419, see 43 U. S. O. 461. 296 See Sen. Rep. No. 608, 62d Cong., 2d sess., pp. 1-2 (1912). 281 Act of August 9,1912, § 2, 37 Stat. 265, 266, 43 U. S. C. 542. |