Indian use, and certain public-domain lands which were temporarily withdrawn by the Department of the Interior in aid of proposed legislation to add portions thereof to contiguous Indian reservations and lands.

Passage of this bill would give security to the Indian tribes who for many years have been using the lands involved. These Indians have spent their own money and performed considerable labor to improve the lands. The lands were acquired by the United States for Indian use, and there would appear to be no reason for not officially declaring that title thereto is held in trust for the Indian tribes concerned.

S. 1323 also would permit the transfer of administrative control of lands now used by non-Indians from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the Bureau of Land Management, which would administer the areas so transferred under the provisions of the Taylor Grazing Act as amended.

Enactment of the bill would permit further stabilization of the livestock industry in the area by removing any doubts that might exist about continuity of use by the Indian tribes and by increasing the period of the grazing permits of non-Indian users from 5 to 10 years. This greater certainty should foster the initiation and continuation of better soil-conservation practices in the entire area.

In its report to the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, the Department of the Interior recommended the enactment of S. 1323 in substance. The Department's report stated that the enactment of S. 1323 would facilitate its administrative work, both in the areas that would become Indian land and those that would become public domain.

With its favorable report to the Senate committee, the Department of the Interior included a memorandum of information that fully described the lands concerned. Some of the land descriptions have been found to be erroneous. The Committee on Public Lands, therefore, has amended the bill to provide that the Secretary of the Interior may correct any clerical errors in section III of the memorandum of information, and shall revise the same so as to define the areas on the portion known as Bell Rock Mesa used and occupied respectively by the Laguna Pueblo Indians and the Canoncito Navajo Indians.

The Committee on Public Lands unanimously recommend that S. 1323 be enacted, as amended.

O

AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION OF THE IRRIGATION FACILITIES AND TO CONTRACT WITH THE WATER USERS ON THE BUFFALO RAPIDS PROJECT, MONTANA, INCREASING THE REIMBURSABLE CONSTRUCTION COST OBLIGATION

JULY 13, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. MURDOCK, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following

REPORT

To accompany H. R. 5113]

The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 5113), to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to complete construction of the irrigation facilities and to contract with the water users on the Buffalo Rapids project, Montana, increasing the reimbursable construction cost obligation, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

EXPLANATION OF THE BILL

The purpose of this bill is to provide the necessary authorization to permit the Bureau of Reclamation to complete the construction of the irrigation facilities on the Buffalo Rapids project, Montana, and to contract with the water users to increase the reimbursable construction cost obligation.

The Buffalo Rapids project embraces two divisions. The first division was authorized for construction in September 1937, under the Emergency Relief Act, with reimbursement to be made under the Reclamation laws. This original authorization covered 12,500 acres. On May 15, 1940, the President reauthorized the division under the act of May 10, 1939, and extended the project to a total of 15,500

acres.

On October 11, 1939, the President approved the inclusion of the second division in the Great Plains program with an estimated irrigable area of 9,800 acres. On May 15, 1940, the President reauthorized

construction of the second division under the Water Conservation and Utility provision of the Interior Department Appropriation Act of 1940 and increased the size of the division to approximately 11,600

acres.

A total of approximately $1,870,800 has been obligated for the first division through May 1949. Based on present prices it is estimated that approximately $830,000 of additional funds is necessary to complete construction on the first division, including the drainage works which will be required. When the project was initially authorized, it was impossible to estimate the funds necessary for drainage work since an accurate finding could not be made until the project reached its full development.

Funds obligated for the second division through May 1949 total approximately $1,890,800. Based on present costs it is estimated that approximately $730,000 of additional funds will be required to complete construction, including necessary drainage facilities. This figure is dependent, of course, on the work finally determined to be essential after engineering investigation of the drainage needs of the division.

The Bureau of Reclamation recommends that the project be reauthorized as provided in this bill. H. R. 5113 would maintain the same percentage of reimbursability as was originally approved by the President. The initial program of reimbursement called for $40 per acre over a 40-year repayment period. This bill would increase the reimbursable amount to $60 an acre but would extend the repayment period to 60 years, so that the annual obligation of the water users remains unchanged.

Enactment of this bill would be consistent with past congressional action in reauthorizing other projects originally authorized under the Great Plains program, namely, the Mancos project (Public Law 109, 80th Cong.) and the Eden project (Public Law 132, 81st Cong.). Increased cost of construction has made it impossible to complete these projects under the original authorization. All of the additional costs authorized by H. R. 5113 are reimbursable.

Unless the drainage works are provided, the efficiency and usefulness of the project will be greatly reduced. At hearings held on this bill, a representative of the Soil Conservation Service, Department of Agriculture, appeared to urge its enactment. The Department of Agriculture is responsible for land acquisition, development and settlement of the project.

The Department of the Interior recommends that H. R. 5113 be enacted. Pertinent comments from the Department's favorable report are set forth below and further explain the purpose of the bill. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D. C., July 7, 1949. MY DEAR MR. PETERSON: I am glad to comply with your request for an expression of our views regarding H. R. 5113, a bill "To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to complete construction of the irrigation facilities and to contract with the water users on the Buffalo Rapids project, Montana, increasing the reimbursable construction cost obligation, and for other purposes."

We recommend enactment of the proposed legislation.

The Buffalo Rapids project consists of two divisions identified as the "first division" and the "second division."

The first division (previously known as the Glendive unit) was authorized for construction by the President February 27, 1937, under the Emergency Relief

Act of 1937. Reimbursement was to be made under Reclamation law. This original authorization covered 12,500 acres. On May 15, 1940, the President reauthorized the division under the act of May 10, 1939, and extended the project by 3,000 acres to a total of 15,500 acres.

On October 11, 1939, the President approved the inclusion of the second division in the Great Plains program with an estimated irrigable area of 9,800 acres. On May 15, 1940, the President reauthorized construction of the second division under the "Water conservation and utility" provision of the Interior Department Appropriation Act of 1940 and increased the size of the division to approximately 11,600 acres.

The water for the project is pumped from the Yellowstone River by a series of pumping stations to canal and lateral systems which convey the water to the irrigable land of the project.

The Bureau of Reclamation is responsible for construction of the irrigation system and the Department of Agriculture is responsible for land acquisition, development, and settlement. The principal items of construction and development have been completed for both divisions of the project. Major construction remaining is the drainage systems for the project and clean-up construction on the various units. Remaining development work probably can be completed by the Department of Agriculture this calendar year. The project is now being operated by the Buffalo Rapids Farms Association, an organization of landowners on the division, sponsored by the Department of Agriculture to handle the development and leasing of farm units.

Construction of the first division began in 1937. Water has been delivered to project lands since 1940 and about 92 percent of the irrigable acreage was irrigated in 1948. A total of approximately $1,870,800 has been obligated for the first division through May 1949. Based on present prices it is estimated that approximately $830,000 of additional funds will be required for completion of construction on the first division, including the drainage works which will be required. In the finding of feasibility, approved by the President May 15, 1940, the Secretary of the Interior called attention to the fact that additional funds would be necessary for drainage work but that an accurate estimate could not be made until the project reached its full development.

The second division of the project includes three units in the vicinity of Terry, Mont.-the Shirley, Terry, and Fallon units with a combined acreage of approximately 11,600 acres Construction of the Shirley unit began in September 1940 and the unit was put in operation in 1944. The Terry unit began operations in 1945. Construction is under way and well advanced on the Fallon unit. Funds obligated for the second division through May 1949 total approximately $1,890,800. Based on present costs it is estimated that approximately $730,000 of additional funds will yet be required to complete construction of the second division, including necessary drainage facilities, depending on what work is finally determined to be essential after engineering investigation of the drainage needs of the division.

If H. R. 5113 is enacted, it will permit the Bureau of Reclamation to complete the construction of the irrigation facilities as originally planned and it will permit adjustment of the present reimbursable obligation to take into account the current estimates of project costs and requirements. The existing total repayment obligation for the project of $1,135,000 (first division $620,000, second division $515,000) was based on estimated project costs totaling $3,325,000. Through subsequent authorizations, approximately $3,761,600 has been obligated through May 1949 for construction of the project and construction is continuing with available funds amounting to about $47,600. Approximately $1,560,000 will be required to complete the project and put it in satisfactory operating condition, including the drainage facilities as reported above. In other words, based on present costs and on preliminary engineering estimates of drainage facilities which will be required, the total construction cost will be approximately $5,369,200. It is, therefore, reasonable that an upward adjustment be made in the repayment obligation for the project. Investigations in connection with authorization of the project established the ability of the project lands to pay construction costs at approximately $1 per acre per annum. More recent analysis of the project substantiates this conclusion; and, therefore, it would be appropriate that the upward adjustment of the repayment obligation be accomplished by retaining this rate of payment and increasing the pay-out period from 40 to 60 years to be based on the actual irrigable acreage, as determined upon completion of the project.

The increase in the repayment obligation of the water users and the extension of the repayment period to 60 years would be consistent with the action of the Eightieth Congress, first session, in authorizing the completion of the Mancos project and increasing the reimbursable amount from $600,000 to $900,000 and extending the repayment period from 40 to 60 years (61 Stat. 176). It would also be consistent with the action of this Congress in passing S. 55 authorizing the completion of the Eden project, raising the reimbursable obligation from $1,045,000 to be paid in 40 years to $1,500,000 to be repaid in not to,exceed 60 years.

The Committee on Public Lands unanimously recommends that H. R. 5113 be enacted.