El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-08-28
M0NEY.F0R DAM
Up T0C0NGRE5S
Reclamation Counsel Ex-
plains Necessity For 1915
Estimates in October.

After next July no more money can
oe spent on the Elephant Butte dam
and its canal system except by direct
appropriation of congress This IS
one. Of the features Of the new recla-
nation law passed on August IS, as it
is e,zplained by Norris Bien. counsel
for The reclamation service, VINO was
here Thursday TO inspect the legal de-
uartment OF the local reclamation ser
vice offices
lined by counsel Bieu has number
Of provisions in it which directly al
feet the Elephant Butte proyect anu
are OF especial interest 70 III Fasoellls-
The provision which limits the eA-
pendfture of moneys by the recla-na-
ton service 20 the funds appropriated
bv congress IS one OF the most I'M
portant clauses in the newly enac
law In the past the secretary OF the
interior has had the power 10 ap-
Dropriate money for the various pro-
iects from what was IN the treasury
of his department as me IeSCLt u ~
sale Of public lands or from any oIher
sources. This will no longer be pos
Estimates in Advance.
Estimates will have to be prepared
BY the interior department by OCTOBER
Is and submitted to the secretary OF
The treasury. These are bound in a
book of estimates and are given 10
the AUTHORIZATION GDLLLllA--L9I u IN
gress for its consideration
This will take away the freedom OF
the secretary in planning for MS pro
iects in advance counsel Blen salu-
Contracts cannot be entered into eN-
cept for a limited period as Il VIII not
be known definitely what the apprO-
priation Of congress will De ana lne
work Of the department VIII pc
hammered I do not think that TINS
phase of the new law will affect the
Elephant Butte project seriously, As
II will be almost completed by July
OF next year. But it may nave some
which must be done win money aP
propriated after that time
Extends Time Of Payments.
Another provision Of the law e17
tends the time Of making the 1lnal
payments on the construction cost OF
fhc government projects rom 10 years
p % wears This has also been grad
1ated so that the burden VIII ran
highest on the land owners when the
land is least productive.
THE old law required the full
pavment in 10 days. but now the
nov law allows 20 years in which TO
make the pavments- The secretary
tried TO graduate the payments with
out making the payments TOO uSnl at
first and too heavy toward the END
Under the present law during the first
four years the land owner pays but
two percent per year OF the IOlal
cost During the next Two years ne
paws four percent a year and during
the following Il years he viii be re-
or1ired 70 nav six percent each year
In addition to these payments on con-
struction. the landowners are required
to pay a propOrtionate part Of the
cost Of maintenance and operation
Penalty for NOnpayment-
s'The law provides a penalty for non
payment Of these assessments prompt
~ In the past secretaries nave peen
deceived and have granted extensions
rt-- various reasons offered to them
The law now requires the fixing Of a
penalty Of one percent per month on
the construction payments if these are
not paid by December l. On the op-
Grafton and maintenance payments a
discount OF five percent is allowed
when the payments are made on the
Gay they are due. After three months
there is a penalty Of one percent q
month on all delinQ6ents- There is
another penalty included in the law
L requires that the landowners under
a project must sign up within one
year after the notices have been
issued that the project IS ready for
water service. If this IS not done
five percent is added to the cOnstuc-
from holding land under projects
without signing up until other lands
nearby have been improved and the
values Of the unsigned lands in
creased
Ban on Speculation.
THE new law permits the secretary
o. the interior to designate the Water
Users association as fiscal agents to
collect the construction and operation
cost assessment It also requires the
people Under the government project
20 cultivate the land The land own
er is required to irrigate one fourth
of the irrigable area during three full
irrigatiOns after public notice Of the
completion of a project has been IS
sued One half Of the total irrigable
area must be under cultivation within
five irrigation seasons The penalty
for violation of this is cancellation
% the water rights Personally. I be-
lieve that this is too drastic but the
law was formulated after six or eight
meetings of western congressman, If
rigation men from the west and the
secretary, and the sentiment was
strong for cancellation should the
laEds under government projects be
neglected after the projects We're fin
ished- This will prevent speculation
and that was the aim Of the law"
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