RIO GRANDE CONVENTION WITH MEXICO ruary 3, 1944 (effective November 8, 1945), 59 Stat. 1219. The 1944 Treaty appears herein in chronological order. Cross References, Statutory Authority of the Commission. The Act of August 19, 1935, which appears herein in chronological order, provides general authority for the work of the Commission, and the notes following the Act briefly summarize other statutory provisions relating to its program. Fort Quitman. For international purposes, Fort Quitman, Texas, is recognized as the point on the Rio Grande separating the Upper Rio Grande (river and basin) from the Lower Rio Grande (river and basin). The Treaty of February 3, 1944, deals with the utilization of the waters of the Rio Grande below Fort Quitman. The name "Lower Rio Grande Valley", however, applies to the valley beginning about 200 miles above the mouth of the River. Cross References, Miscellaneous. Other related subjects include the Rio Grande Compact, Middle Rio Grande project 117 (above Elephant Butte reservoir), Rio Grande rectification project (I.B.W.C.), and the 1944 Treaty with Mexico. Validity of Mexican Claim to Rio Grande Water. The disclaimers in Articles IV and V, that the Convention constitutes no recognition by the United States of the validity of Mexican claims to the waters of the Upper Rio Grande, stems in part from the 1895 opinion of Attorney General Harmon holding that the United States is completely free under international law to utilize all of the waters of the basin above the point where the river becomes the international boundary. 21 Op. Atty. Gen. 274 (1895). The validity of this holding has been questioned in later years. See Legal Aspects of the Use of Systems of International Waters, S. Doc. No. 118, 85th Cong., 2d Sess. 66-67 (1958). Editor's Note, Annotations. Annotations of opinions are not included because this Convention does not relate primarily to activities of the Bureau of Reclamation. 118 DISPOSITION OF LANDS IN ABANDONED FORT SHAW MILITARY RESERVATION An act to provide for the disposition under the public land laws of the lands in the abandoned Fort Shaw Military Reservation, Mont. (Act of June 9, 1906, ch. 3066, 34 Stat. 228) [Disposal of lands-Reservation-Withdrawal under reclamation act.]— The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to dispose of the lands in the abandoned Fort Shaw Military Reservation, in Montana, under the provisions of the public land laws, and the public-land surveys shall be extended over the lands therein: Provided, That he may reserve for Indian school purposes the following-described lands in township twenty north, range two west, Montana principal meridian, as determined by the extension of the public surveys: That portion of section two lying south of Sun River, all of sections eleven, fourteen, and twenty-three, and that portion of section twenty-six lying within the present reservation boundary: Provided further, That before opening the reservation to entry, the Secretary of the Interior may withdraw any other lands therein needed in connection with an irrigation project under the provisions of the act of June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two, known as the reclamation act, for use or disposition thereunder. (34 Stat. 228) EXPLANATORY NOTES Not Codified. This Act is not codified in the U.S. Code. Sun River Project. The lands of the Fort Shaw Military Reservation opened for entry pursuant to this Act became the first unit of the Sun River project. Legislative History. H.R. 17114, Public Law 215 in the 59th Congress. H.R. Rept. No. 3633. S. Rept. No. 3616. 119 EXTEND RECLAMATION ACT TO TEXAS An act to extend the irrigation act to the State of Texas. (Act of June 12, 1906, ch. 3288, 34 Stat. 259) The provisions of the Act entitled "An Act appropriating the receipts from the sale and disposal of public lands in certain States and Territories to the construction of irrigation works for the reclamation of arid lands," approved June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two, be, and the same are hereby, extended so as to include and apply to the State of Texas. (34 Stat. 259; 43 U.S.C. § 391) EXPLANATORY NOTES Cross Reference, Extension of Reclamation Act to Area of Texas Bordering the Rio Grande. The Act of February 25, 1905, 33 Stat. 814, extended the reclamation act to the portion of Texas bordering upon the Rio Grande which can be irrigated from a dam near Engle, New Mexico. The 1905 120 SALE OF INDIAN ALLOTTED LANDS IN RECLAMATION PROJECTS [Extract from] An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, and for other purposes, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1907. (Act of June 21, 1906, ch. 3504, 34 Stat. 325) [Sales of Indian allotted lands within reclamation projects-Proceeds.]Any Indian allotted lands under any law or treaty without the power of alienation, and within a reclamation project approved by the Secretary of the Interior, may sell and convey any part thereof, under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, but such conveyance shall be subject to his approval, and when so approved shall convey full title to the purchaser the same as if final patent without restrictions had been issued to the allottee: Provided, That the consideration shall be placed in the Treasury of the United States and used by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to pay the construction charges that may be assessed against the unsold part of the allotment, and to pay the maintenance charges thereon during the trust period, and any surplus shall be a benefit running with the water right to be paid to the holder thereof. (34 Stat. 327; 25 U.S.C. § 409) 121 FARM UNITS, TOWN SITES, AND DESERT-LAND ENTRIES An act providing for the subdivision of lands entered under the reclamation act, and for other purposes. (Act of June 27, 1906, ch. 3559, 34 Stat. 519) [Sec. 1. Minimum entries of less than 40 acres Subdivision-Entries of lesser areas.]-Whenever, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior, by reason of market conditions and the special fitness of the soil and climate for the growth of fruit and garden produce, a lesser area than forty acres may be sufficient for the support of a family on lands to be irrigated under the provisions of the act of June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two, known as the reclamation act, he may fix a lesser area than forty acres as the minimum entry and may establish farm units of not less than ten or more than one hundred and sixty acres. Wherever it may be necessary, for the purpose of accurate description, to further subdivide lands to be irrigated under the provisions of said reclamation act, the Secretary of the Interior may cause subdivision surveys to be made by the officers of the Reclamation Service, which subdivisions shall be rectangular in form, except in cases where irregular subdivisions may be necessary in order to provide for practicable and economical irrigation. Such subdivision surveys shall be noted upon the tract books in the General Land Office, and they shall be paid for from the reclamation fund: Provided, That an entryman may elect to enter under said reclamation act a lesser area than the minimum limit in any State or Territory. (34 Stat. 519; 43 U.S.C. § 434) EXPLANATORY NOTES Codification. This section is codified as a proviso to the acreage limitation provisions of section 3 of the Reclamation Act. Earlier Provision. This Act amends sec 1. Subdivision of lands tion 3 of the Reclamation Act, which places a minimum of 40 acres on the size of farm units. NOTES OF OPINIONS Under the authority conferred upon the Secretary by this act, to "fix a lesser area than 40 acres as the minimum entry" and to "establish farm units of not less than 10 or more than 160 acres," as to all lands withdrawn and entered under the reclamation act, he may make such subdivisions of the public land entered under the reclamation act as in his judgment may be deemed advisable in units of 10 acres or multiples thereof up to 160 acres. Op. Asst. Atty. Gen., 35 L.D. 110 (1906). This act authorizes the Secretary to fix a lesser area than 40 acres as a farm unit when "by reason of market conditions and the special fitness of the soil and climate for the growth of fruit and garden produce a lesser area than 40 acres may be sufficient for the support of a family," or when necessary "in order to provide for practical and 267-067-72-vol. I-11 economical irrigation," and there is no authority for subdividing a smallest legal subdivision under any other circumstances. Jerome M. Higman, 37 L.D. 718 (1909). Lands platted to farm units can only be taken in accordance with the established units; and there cannot be included in the same entry lands within a farm unit and other lands without. McDonald v. Rizor, 42 L.D. 554 (1913). March 8, 1930, the Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, requested the Secretary of the Interior to consider the matter of combining public and private land for the creation of a farm unit. This was thought advisable on the Kittitas division, Yakima project, in order that the lateral system might be more scientifically and economically laid out. The First Assistant Secretary, March 24, 1930, cited the act of June 27, 1906, fixing the area "as the maxi |