An Act to provide for the compensation of certain persons whose lands have been flooded and damaged by reason of fluctuations in the water level of the Lake of the Woods
PL 83-589 (H.R.2098), enacted 08/13/1954

728 
PUBLIC LAW 589-AUG. 13, 1954 
[68 S 
TAT. 
Leases, etc. 
Rides and regu-
lations. 
Repeals. 
48 Stat. 984. 
25 u s e 461-479. 
Separability. 
SEC. 17. Nothing in this Act shall abrogate any valid lease, permit, 
license, right-of-way, lien, or other contract heretofore approved. 
Whenever any such instrument places in or reserves to the Secretary 
any powers, duties, or other functions with respect to the property 
subject thereto, the Secretary may transfer such functions, in whole 
or in part, to any Federal agency with the consent of such agency. 
SEC. 18. The Secretary is authorized to issue rules and regulations 
necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Act, and may in his dis-
cretion provide for tribal referenda on matters pertaining to manage-
ment or disposition of tribal assets. 
SEC. 19. All Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with this Act are 
hereby repealed insofar as they affect a tribe or its members. 
The 
Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 948), as amended by the Act of June 
15,1935 (49 Stat. 378), shall not apply to a tribe and its members after 
the date of the proclamation provided for in section 13 of this Act. 
SEC. 20. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to 
any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of the Act 
and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances 
shall not be affected thereby. 
Approved August 13, 1954. 
August 13, 1954 
[H. R. 2098] 
Public Law 589 
CHAPTER 734 
AN ACT 
To provide for the compensation of certain persons whose lands have been 
flooded and damaged by reason of fluctuations in the water level of the Lake 
of the Woods. 
t h e 
L a k e 
of 
Woods, Minn. 
Water level dam-
ages. 
44 Stat. 2108. 
R e p o r t to Con-
gress. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assemoled, That the Secretary 
of the Army is authorized and directed to investigate, as soon as 
practicable, all claims filed within six months from the date of the 
enactment of this Act for losses and damages caused after August 26, 
1937, to inhabitants of the United States by fluctuations in the water 
level of the Lake of the Woods due to artificial obstructions placed 
in the outlets of such lake pursuant to the convention (signed at 
Washington on February 24, 1925) between the Governments of the 
United States and Great Britain providing for the regulation of the 
level of such lake. 
SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Army, after due notice and oppor-
tunity for hearing, shall ascertain and determine the loss or damage, 
if any, that may have been sustained by the respective claimants, and 
to report to the Congress for its consideration the amount or amounts 
which he finds to be equitably due such claimants, together with a 
statement in each case of the substantial facts upon which the con-
clusion is based. 
The amounts found to be due the respective 
claimants for such loss or damage may be based upon any flooding 
exceeding elevation one thousand and sixty-four sea-level datum, and 
upon any flooding between elevations one thousand sixty-two and five-
tenths and one thousand and sixty-four sea-level datum unaffected by 
winds, as provided in the convention (signed at Washington on 
February 24, 1925) between the Governments of the United States 
and Great Britain providing for the regulation of the level of such 
lake. 
Approved August 13, 1954.