The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1922-10-28
LAND ACT
DEVELOP STATE
BY Thomas n. King. Engineering
Specialist I'm Nevada Farmer

Citizens OF Nevada have realized
for many years that II we are to in
crease u cultivated acreage we
must develop our underground wat
ers, and several attempts to accom-
plish some thing along this line have
been made through legislative acts.
The two acts Of 1915 sounded good
and would have accomplished good
II they had not contained the usual
clause making the funds for opera
ton obtainable from any unappro-
priated funds in the State treasury.
One of these acts established q de-
partment of engineering experiment
tation for the University of Nevada
with FIVE thousand dollars annually
available for the development Of un-
derground waters and the teaching
of the proper use of any underground
waters already developed
The second of these acts purported
to cause the drilling of artesian wells
throughout the State and by this act
any county purchasing the land and
drilling an artesian well thereon was
entitled to reimbursement from the
State treasury up to i've thousand
dollars upon filing of the proper GER
~tiicates. The funds obtained by any
county in this wise were to be set
aside In a special fund for this class
of work only.
These two acts were partially op-
erative but died a very quiet death
ewing to the absence of unappropria-
ted funds. The difficulties encount-
cred in trying to develop under
ground water for agriculture In Ne
vada are many and without a pre-
MUM being placed on the efforts Of
the pioneer In this work the develop
ment has Jagged.
The United States Geological Sur
vey has made several very good re-
ports on the underground waters in
various sections of Nevada which
contain much valuable information.
but they have not been greatly slim
ulating to the development of our
underground waters. In some places,
as the Steptoe Valley In White Pine
County, large sums of money were
expended by the, Geological Survey
in the drilling Of wells, but this also
failed to create any great amount Of
active interest.
A few farsighted individuals, how
ever, never lost sight of nj needs
and the possibilities along this line,
and on October %, 1919, the Pitt
man Land Act was approved, having
been passed by both the Senate and
the House. This act is applicable
only to the State of Nevada and 1t
has done more to promote the devel-
opment of our underground waters
than all previous efforts as shown by
the fact that entries covering more
than two hundred thousand acres
have been made since its passage.
THE PITTMAN LAND ACT
Under the Pittman Land Act any
citizen of the United States or associ-
alton of citizens other than q cor
poration may obtain q permit to pros
pect for underground water In the
State of Nevada. The permit covers
any quantity of land by legal subdi-
visions not to exceed two thousand
FIVE hundred and sixty acres, of un-
appropriated, nonmineral, nontim-
bered. public lands of the United
States in the State Of Nevada, not
known to be susceptible Of irrigation
1T q C06O4aDAO COot AAOAu 0Ay
source of water supply.
The permit extends over a period
of two years with, by ruling, an adj
ditional year in which to comply with
the requirements for patent. Not
more than one permitwould be grant
ed to any n party within an area
forty miles square, which is inter-
preted to mean twenty miles In any
direction of the first application.
The usual regulations concerning
registration, filing fees, collision for
the benefit Of other parties, and trans
fer are applicable under the Pittman
Land Act the same as for other types
of entry on public lands Of the Uni
ted States. The original fee is n
per cent per acre.
Operations for the development of
underground water must be started
permit and continue with reasonable
diligence until the prescribed amount
of water has been secured or until
the expiration OF the permit. II at
any time within two years of the date
of the permit the permittee can es-
tablish the fact that sufficient water
has been developed and rendered
available on the land embraced with
in the permit to produce a profitable
crop, other than native grasses. on
not less than twenty acres of the
land. the permittee is entitled to re-
ceive a patent for one-fourth Of the
land embraced in the permit, such
area to be selected by the permittee
In compact form according to the le-
gal subdivisions of the public land
surveys. The best proof that the re-
quired amount Of water has been de-
veloped is the actual production OF
the profitable crop on twenty acres
or more and the requirements for
patent are thus construed. The re-
naming area within the limits of the
permit are thereafter open only to
one hundred and sixty acre home
stead entry.
Records are not at this time avail
able to show the progress OF the