OCR Text |
Show 545 appropriation, use, or distribution of water used in irri- gation, or any vested right acquired thereunder and the Secretary of the Interior, in carrying out the provisions of this Act, shall proceed in conformity with such laws, and nothing herein shall in any way affect any right of any State or of the Federal Government or of any land- owner, appropriator, or user of water in, to, or from any interstate stream or the waters thereof: Provided, That the right to the use of water acquired under the provi- sions of this Act shall be appurtenant to the land irri- gated, and beneficial use shall be the basis, the measure, and the limit of the right. Water-Conservation and Utilization Projects.-Among the findings made prerequisite to construction of projects under the Water Conservation and Utilization Act, Congress directed that the Secretary of the Interior shall have found:274 (i) that water rights adequate for the purposes of the project have been acquired with titles and at prices satis- factory to him, or that such water rights have been initiated and in his judgment can be perfected in con- formity with State law and any applicable interstate agreements and in a manner satisfactory to him; and (ii) that such water rights can be utilized for the pur- poses of the project in conformity with State law and any applicable interstate agreements and in a manner satisfactory to him. Nonfederal Power Projects.-In addition to the foregoing provisions relating to the use of water in connection with fed- eral projects, Congress included in the Federal Power Act a provision pertinent here. It directed that nothing contained in that Act:276 shall be construed as affecting or intending to affect or in any way to interfere with the laws of the respective 274 Act of October 14, 1940, §3(b), 54 Stat. 1119, 1121, as amended, 16 U. S. C. 590z-l(b). 275 Act of June 10, 1920, § 27, 41 Stat. 1063, 1077, as amended, 16 U. S. 0. 821. See also supra, n. 87, p. 276. |