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Show 235 ship within the Government reclamation projects."493 More- over, in authorizing the Secretary to cooperate with irrigation districts and others for the construction of such reservoirs, canals, or ditches as may be advantageously used by the Gov- ernment and water users for irrigation purposes, this 1911 stat- ute provides that water shall not be furnished thereby "to any one landowner in excess of an amount sufficient to irrigate one hundred and sixty acres."494 Relevant provisions also appear in the amended Wheeler- Case Act which authorizes the construction of small water- conservation and utilization projects.495 Repayment contracts must provide that the Secretary shall establish farm units of a size sufficient "for the support of a family on the lands to be irrigated." 496 Such contract must require that water may not be delivered to or for more than one farm unit owned by a single landowner.497 And no water shall be delivered to or for any land sold within a specified period at a price exceeding the appraised value as determined by the Secretary.498 Through the years, Congress has exempted three projects from the excess-land limitations.499 Recent attempts to ex- m § 1, 36 Stat. 925, 43 U. S. C. 523. 494 § 2, 36 Stat. 926, 43 TJ. S. C. 524. Although the limitation here is in terms of water, it has been construed as a limitation on the quantity of land which may be irrigated by project water and not a limitation on water alone. Department of the Interior Solicitor's Opinion No. M-21709, March 3, 1927. 495 Act of August 11, 1939, 53 Stat. 1418, as amended, 16 U. S. C. 590y- 590z-ll (Supp. III). m § 4(c) (5), 54 Stat. 1122,16 U. S. C. 590z-2(c) (5). 491 Id. 498 Id. m Colorado-Big Thompson Project: In 1938, Congress provided that "the excess land provisions of the Federal reclamation laws shall not be appli- cable to lands which now have an irrigation water supply from sources other than a Federal reclamation project and which will receive a sup- plemental supply from the Colorado-Big Thompson Project." Act of June 16, 1938, 52 Stat. 764, 43 U. S. C. 386. In recommending this exemption, the Acting Secretary of the Interior said: "The Colorado-Big Thompson project will furnish a supplemental water supply to approximately 615,000 acres of land on the eastern slope of Colorado. This land has been settled for more than 50 years and is already being irrigated and is at present divided into more than 6,400 separate farm units, the average individual landownership being 96 acres. Although there are, of course, some farms |