An Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct, operate, and maintain the Colorado River storage project and participating projects, and for other purposes.
PL 84-485 (S.500), enacted 04/11/1956

70 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 485-APR. 11, 1956 
105 
for residence purposes lots not exceeding three acres in area; but 
any lot not sold after public auction, or sold and forfeited, or any lot 
or part thereof surrendered with the consent of the commissioner, 
which consent is authorized, may upon application be sold without 
further public notice or auction within the period of t
A
V
o years imme-
diately subsequent to the day of the public auction, at the advertised 
price if the sale is Avithin the period of six months immediately subse-
quent to the day of the public auction, and at the advertised price or 
the price fixed by a reappraisal of the land, whichever is greater, if 
the sale is within the period subsequent to the said six months but 
prior to the expiration of the said two years:". 
SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect on and after the date of its approval. 
Approved April 6, 1956. 
Effective date. 
Public Law 483 
CHAPTER 186 
AN ACT 
To amend section 8 (b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act 
with respect to water conservation practices. 
April 6, 1956 
[H. R. 7236] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress a^ssenibled. That the second 
sentence of section 8 (b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allot-
ment Act, as amended (16 U. S. C , sec. 5901i (b)), is amended by 
striking out of said sentence "In arid or semiarid sections," and 
inserting in lieu thereof "Clauses". 
Approved April 6, 1956. 
52 Stat. 31. 
Public Law 484 
CHAPTER 187 
AN ACT 
To authorize the loan of two submarines to the Government of Brazil. 
April 6, 1956 
[H. R. 8100] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assemhled^ That the President 
is authorized to lend two submarines to the Government of Brazil for 
a period of not more than five years and may, in his discretion, extend 
the loan for an additional period of not more than five years. The 
President shall, prior to the delivery of the submarines to the Govern-
ment of Brazil, conclude an agreement with the Government providing 
for the return of the submarines in accordance with the provisions 
of this Act and in substantially the same condition as when loaned. 
All expenses involved in the activation of the submarines, including 
repairs, alterations, outfitting, and logistic support shall be charged 
to funds programed for the Brazilian Government under the Mutual 
Security Act. 
Approved April 6, 1956. 
Brazil. 
Loan of 
rines. 
65 Stat. 373. 
2 2 u s e 
1 6 5 1 
note. 
Public Law 485 
CHAPTER 203 
AN ACT 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct, operate, and maintain 
the Colorado River storage project and participating projects, and for other 
purposes. 
April 11, 1956 
[S. 500] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representati'ves 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assemhled, That, in order to stSag"^*oj^ct^" 
106 
PUBLIC LAW 485-APR. 11, 1956 
[70 S T A T . 
63 Stat. 31. 
Initial units. 
Curecanti Dam. 
Report to C o n-
gress and P r e s i -
dent. 
P a r t i c i p a ting 
projects. 
Rainbow Bridge 
N a t i o n a l 
Monu-
ment. 
P i a n n i n g 
re-
ports. 
Priority. 
Reports to States, 
President and Con-
gress. 
53 Stat. 785. 
initiate the comprehensive development of the water resources of the 
Upper Colorado River Basin, for the purposes, among others, of regu-
lating the flow of the Colorado River, storing water for beneficial 
consumptive use, making it possible for the States of the Upper Basin 
to utilize, consistently with the provisions of the Colorado River Com-
pact, the apportionments made to and among them in the Colorado 
River Compact and the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, respec-
tively, providing for the reclamation of arid and semiarid land, for the 
control of floods, and for the generation of hydroelectric power, as an 
incident of the foregoing purposes, the Secretary of the Interior is 
hereby authorized (1) to construct, operate, and maintain the follow-
ing initial units of the Colorado River storage project, consisting of 
dams, reservoirs, powerplants, transmission facilities and appurtenant 
works: Curecanti, Flaming (lorge, Navajo (dam and reservoir only), 
and Glen Canyon: Frovided, That the Curecanti Dam shall be con-
structed to a height Avhich will impound not less than nine hundred 
and forty thousand acre-feet of water or will create a reservoir of 
such greater ca]iacity as can be obtained by a high waterline located 
at seven thousand five hundred and twenty feet above mean sea level, 
and that consti"uction thereof shall not be undertaken until the Secre-
tary has, on the basis of further engineering and economic investi-
gations, reexamined the economic justification of such unit and, 
accompanied by appropriate documentation in the form of a supple-
mental re])ort, has certified to the Congress and to the President that, 
in his judgment, the benefits of such unit will exceed its costs; and 
(2) to construct, operate, and maintain the following additional, 
reclamation ]:)rojects (including poM'er-generating and transmission 
facilities related thereto), hereinafter referred to as participating 
projects: Central Utah (initial phase); Emery County, Florida, 
Hammond, La Barge, Lyman, Paonia (including the Minnesota unit, 
a djim and reservoir on Muddy Creek just above its confluence with 
the North Fork of the Gunnison River, and other necessarj^ works), 
Pine River Extension, Seedskadee, Silt and Smith Fork: Provided 
fuHliei\ That as part of the Glen Canyon Unit the Secretary of the 
Interior shall take adequate protective measures to preclude impair-
ment of the Rainbow Bridge National Monument. 
SEC. 2. In carrying out further investigations of projects under the 
Federal reclamation laws in the Upper Colorado River Basin, the 
Secretary shall give priority to completion of planning reports on the 
Gooseberry, San Juan-Chama, Navajo, Parshall, Troublesome, Rabbit 
Ear, Eagle Divide, San Miguel, West Divide, Bluestone, Battlement 
Mesa, Tomichi Creek, East River, Ohio Creek, Fruitland Mesa, Bost-
wick Park, Grand Mesa, Dallas Creek, Savery-Pot Hook, Dolores, 
Fruit Growers Extension, Animas-La Plata, Yellow Jacket, and 
Sublette participating projects. 
Said reports shall be completed as 
expeditiously as funds are made available therefor and shall be sub-
mitted promptly to the affected States, which in the case of the San 
Juan-Chama project shall include the State of Texas, and thereafter 
to the President and the Congress: Provided^ That with reference to 
the plans and specifications for the San Juan-Chama project, the 
storage for control and regulation of water imported from the San 
Juan River shall (1) be limited to a single offstream dam and reservoir 
on a tributary of the Chama River, (2) be used solely for control and 
regulation and no power facilities shall be established, installed or 
operated thereat, and (3) be operated at all times by the Bureau of 
Reclamation of the Department of the Interior in strict compliance 
with the Rio Grande Compact as administered by the Rio Grande 
Compact Commission. 
The preparation of detailed designs and 
specifications for the works proposed to be constructed in connection 
70 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 485-APR. 11, 1956 
107 
with projects shall be carried as far forward as the investigations 
thereof indicate is reasonable in the circumstances. 
The Secretary, concurrently with the investigations directed by the 
preceding paragraph, shall also give i)riority to completion of a 
planning report on the Juniper project. 
SEC. 8. It is not the intention of Congress, in authorizing oidy those 
projects designated in section 1 of this Act, and in authorizing priority 
in planning only those additional projects designated in section 2 of 
this Act, to limit, restrict, or otherwise interfere with such compre-
hensive development as will provide for the consumptive use by States 
of the Upper Colorado River Basin of waters, the use of which is 
apportioned to the Upper Colorado River Basin by the Colorado River 
Compact and to each State thereof by the Upper Colorado River 
Basin Compact, nor to preclude consitieration and authorization by 
the Congress of additional projects under the allocations in the com-
pacts as additional needs are indicated. 
It is the intention of Con-
gress that no dam or reservoir constructed nnder the authorization of 
this Act shall be within any national park or monument. 
SEC. 4. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, in constructing, 
operating, and maintaining the units of the Colorado River storage 
project and the participating projects listed in section 1 of this Act, the 
Secretary shall be governed by the Federal reclamation laws (Act of 
June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and Acts amendatory thereof or supple-
mentary thereto) : Provided, That (a) irrigation repayment contracts 
shall be entered into which, except as otherwise provided for the 
Paonia and Eden projects, provide for repayment of the obligation 
assumed thereunder with respect to any project contract unit over a 
period of not more than fifty years exclusive of any development 
period authorized by law; (b) prior to construction of irrigation dis-
tribution facilities, repayment contracts shall be made with an "organ-
ization" as defined in paragraph 2 (g) of the Reclamation Project Act 
of 1939 (53 Stat. 1187) which has the capacity to levy assessments 
upon all taxable real property located within its boundaries to assist 
in making repayments, except where a substantial proportion of the 
lands to be served are owned by the United States; (c) contracts 
relating to municipal water supply may be made without regard to the 
limitations of the last sentence of section 9 (c) of the Reclamation 
Project Act of 1939; and (d), as to Indian lands within, under or 
served by any participating project, payment of construction costs 
within the capability of the land to repay shall be subject to the Act 
of July 1, 1932 (47 Stat. 564) : Provided further, That for a period 
of ten years from the date of enactment of this Act, no water from any 
participating project authorized by this Act shall be delivered to any 
water user for the production on newly irrigated lands of any basic 
agricultural commodity, as defined in the Agricultural Act of 1949, or 
any amendment thereof, if the total supply of such commodity for the 
marketing year in which the bulk of the crop would normally be 
marketed is in excess of the normal supply as defined in section 301 
(b) (10) of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, 
unless the Secretary of Agriculture calls for an increase in production 
of such commodity in the interest of national security. 
AH units 
and participating projects shall be subject to the apportionments of 
the use of water between the Upper and Lower Basins of the Colorado 
River and among the States of the Upper Basin fixed in the Colorado 
River Compact and the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, respec-
tively, and to the terms of the treaty with the United Mexican States 
(Treaty Series 994). 
SEC. 5. (a) There is hereby authorized a separate fund in the 
Treasury of the United States to be known as the Upper Colorado 
River Basin Fund (hereinafter referred to as the Basin Fund), which 
Juniper project. 
Congr e s sional 
intent» 
63 Stat. 31. 
Laws governing. 
43USC371 note. 
Repayment con-
tracts. 
43 u s e 485a. 
S3 S t a t . 
1194, 
1195. 
43 u s e 485h. 
25 u s e 386a. 
Restriction. 
63 Stat. 1051. 
7 u s e 1441 note. 
52 Stat. 41. 
7 u s e 1281. 
46 Stat. 3000; 45 
Stat. 1057. 
63 Stat. 31. 
59 Stat. 1219. 
Basin Fiind. 
108 
PUBLIC LAW 485-APR. 11, 1956 
[70 S T A T . 
shall remain available until expended, as hereafter provided, for 
carrying out provisions of this Act other than section 8. 
(b) AH appropriations made for the purpose of carrying out the 
provisions of this Act, other than section 8, shall be credited to the 
Basin Fund as advances from the general fund of the Treasury. 
re^emiVs!*'""^ °' 
(c) All rcveuues collected in connection with the operation of the 
Colorado River storage project and participating projects shall be 
credited to the Basin Fund, and shall be available, without further 
appropriation, for (1) defraying the costs of operation, maintenance, 
and replacements of, and emergency expenditures for, all facilities oi 
the Colorado River storage project and participating projects, within 
such separate limitations as may be included in annual appropriation 
acts: Provided., That with respect to each participating project, such 
costs shall be paid from revenues received from each such project; 
(2) payment as required by subsection (d) of this section; and (3) 
payment as required by subsection (e) of this section. 
Revenues 
credited to the Basin Fund shall not be available for appropriation 
for construction of the units and participating projects authorized 
by or pursuant to this Act. 
(d) Revenues in the Basin Fund in excess of operating needs shall 
be paid annually to the general fund of the Treasury to return— 
(1) the costs of each unit, participating project, or any sepa-
rable feature thereof which are allocated to power pursuant to 
section 6 of this Act, within a period not exceeding fifty years 
from the date of completion of such unit, participating project, 
or separable feature thereof; 
(2) the costs of each unit, participating project, or any sep-
arable feature thereof which are allocated to municipal water 
supply pursuant to section 6 of this Act, within a period not 
exceeding fifty years from the date of completion of such unit, 
participating project, or separable feature thereof; 
(3) interest on the unamortized balance of the investment (in-
cluding interest during construction) in the power and municipal 
water supply features of each unit, participating project, or any 
separable feature thereof, at a rate determmed by the Secretary 
of the Treasury as provided in subsection (f), and interest due 
shall be a first charge; and 
(4) the costs of each storage unit which are allocated to irriga-
tion pursuant to section 6 of this Act Avithin a period not ex-
ceeding fifty years. 
re^wM °"'"*'^* *
*
' 
(e) Revenues in the Basin Fund in excess of the amounts needed to 
meet the requirements of clause (1) of subsection (c) of this section, 
and to return to the general fund of the Treasury the costs set out in 
subsection (d) of this section, shall be apportioned among the States 
of the Upper Division in the following percentages: Colorado, 46 
per centum; Utah, 21.5 per centum; Wyoming, 15.5 per centum; and 
New Mexico, 17 per centum: Provided., That prior to the application 
of such percentages, all revenues remaining in the Basin Fund from 
each participating project (or part thereof), herein or hereinafter 
authorized, after payments, where am)licabie, with respect to such 
projects, to the general fund of the Treasury under subparagraphs 
(1), (2), and (3) of subsection (d) of this section shall be apportioned 
to the State in which such participating project, or part thereof, is 
located. 
Revenues so apportioned to each State shall be used only for the 
repayment of construction costs of participating projects or parts of 
such projects in the State to which such revenues are apportioned and 
shall not be used for such purpose in any other State without the con-
70 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 485-APR. 11, 1956 
109 
sent, as expressed through its legally constituted authority, of the State 
to which such revenues are apportioned. 
Subject to such requirement, 
there shall be paid annually into the general fund of the Treasury 
from the revenues apportioned to each State (1) the costs of each 
participating project herein authorized (except Paonia) or any 
separable feature thereof, which are allocated to irrigation pursuant 
to section 6 of this Act, within a period not exceeding fifty years, in 
addition to any development period authorized by law, from the date 
of completion of such participating project or separable feature there-
of, or, in the case of Indian lands, payment in accordance with section 4 
of this Act; (2) costs of the Paonia project, which are beyond the 
ability of the water users to repay, within a period prescribed in the 
Act of June 25, 1947 (61 Stat. 181); and (3) costs in connection with 
the irrigation features of the Eden project as specified in the Act of 
June 28,1949 (63 Stat. 277). 
(f) The interest rate applicable to each unit of the storage project 
and each participating project shall be determined by the Secretary 
of the Treasury as of the time the first advance is made for initiating 
construction of said unit or project. 
Such interest rate shall be deter-
mined by calculating the average yield to maturity on the basis of 
daily closing market bid quotations during the month of June next 
preceding the fiscal year in which said advance is made, on all interest-
bearing marketable public debt obligations of the United States hav-
ing a maturity date of fifteen or more years from the first day of said 
month, and by adjusting such average annual yield to the nearest 
one-eighth of 1 per centum. 
(g) Business-type budgets shall be submitted to the Congress 
annually for all operations financed by the Basin Fund. 
SEC. 6. Upon completion of each unit, participating project or sep-
arable feature thereof, the Secretary shall allocate the total costs 
(excluding any expenditures authorized by section 8 of this Act) of 
constructing said unit, project or feature to power, irrigation, munici-
pal water supply, flood control, navigation, or any other purposes 
authorized under reclamation law. Allocations of construction, op-
eration and maintenance costs to authorized nonreimbursable purposes 
shall be nonreturnable under the j)rovisions of this Act. 
In the event 
that the Navajo participating project is authorized, the costs allocated 
to irrigation of Indian-owned tribal or restricted lands within, under, 
or served by such project, and beyond the capability of such lands to 
repay, shall be determined, and, in recognition of the fact that assist-
ance to the Navajo Indians is the responsibility of the entire nation, 
such costs shall be nonreimbursable. 
On January 1 of each year the 
Secretary shall report to the Congress for the previous fiscal year, 
beginning with the fiscal year 1957, upon the status of the revenues 
from, and the cost of, constructing, operating, and maintaining the 
Colorado River storage project and the participating projects. 
The 
Secretary's report shall be prepared to reflect accurately the Federal 
investment allocated at that time to power, to irrigation, and to other 
purposes, the progress of return and repayment thereon, and the 
estimated rate of progress, year by year, in accomplishing full 
repayment. 
SEC. 7. The hydroelectric powerplants and transmission lines author-
ized by this Act to be constructed, operated, and maintained by the 
Secretary shall be operated in conjunction with other Federal power-
plants, present and potential, so as to produce the greatest practicable 
amount of power and energy that can be sold at firm power and energy 
rates, but in the exercise of the authority hereby granted he shall not 
affect or interfere with the operation of the provisions of the Colorado 
River Compact, the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, the 
Interest rate. 
Budget to Con-
Cost allocations. 
Navajo s. 
Report to 
Con-
gress. 
Power plant op-
110 
PUBLIC LAW 485-APR. 11, 1956 
[70 ST A T . 
45 Stat. 1057. 
43 u s e 617 note. 
54 Stat. 774. 
43 u s e 6 ISO. 
Recreational and 
f i s h and wildlife 
facilities. 
S a v i n g provi• 
sion. 
43USC617note. 
43 u s e 6 ISO. 
53 Stat. 785. 
59 Stat. 1219. 
Expenditures. 
67 Stat. 266. 
Effectivity 
a n d 
approval of court 
decree, etc. 
Appropri ation. 
Net power reve-
nues. 
O p e r a t i o n and 
maintenance, com-
pliance. 
Boulder Canyon Project Act, the Boulder Canyon Project Adjust-
ment Act and any contract lawfully entered unto under said Compacts 
and Acts. 
Subject to the provisions of the Colorado River Compact, 
neither the impounding nor the use of water for the generation of 
power and energy at the plants of the Colorado River storage project 
shall preclude or impair the appropriation of water for domestic or 
agricultural purposes pursuant to applicable State law. 
SEC. 8. In connection with the development of the Colorado River 
storage project and of the participating projects, the Secretary is 
authorized and directed to investigate, plan, construct, operate, and 
maintain (1) public recreational facilities on lands withdrawn or 
acquired for the development of said project or of said participating 
projects, to conserve the scenery, the natural, historic, and archeologic 
objects, and the wildlife on said lands, and to provide for public use 
and enjoyment of the same and of the water areas created by these 
projects by such means as are consistent with the primary purposes of 
said projects; and (2) facilities to mitigate losses of, and improve 
conditions for, the propagation of fish and wildlife. 
The Secretary 
is authorized to acquire lands and to withdraw public lands from entry 
or other disposition under the public land laws necessary for the con-
struction, operation, and maintenance of the facilities herein provided, 
and to dispose of them to Federal, State, and local governmental 
agencies by lease, transfer, exchange, or conveyance upon such terms 
and conditions as will best promote their development and operation 
in the public interest. 
All costs incurred pursuant to this section 
shall be nonreimbursable and nonreturnable. 
SEC. 9. Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to alter, 
amend, repeal, construe, interpret, modify, or be in conflict with the 
provisions of the Boulder Canyon Project Act (45 Stat. 1057), the 
Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act (54 Stat. 774), the Colorado 
River Compact, the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, the Rio 
Grande Compact of 1938, or the Treaty Avith the United Mexican 
States (Treaty Series 994). 
SEC. 10. Expenditures for the Flaming Gorge, Glen Canyon, Cure-
canti, and Navajo initial units of the Colorado River storage project 
may be made without regard to the soil survey and land classification 
requirements of the Interior Department Appropriation Act, 1954. 
SEC. 11. The Final Judgment, Final Decree and stipulations incor-
porated therein in the consolidated cases of United States of America 
V. Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, et al.. Civil Nos. 
2782, 5016 and 5017, in the United States District Court for 1:he District 
of Colorado, are approved, shall become effective immediately, and 
the proper agencies of the United States shall act in accordance 
therewith. 
SEC. 12. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any 
moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may 
be required to carry out the purposes of this Act, but not to exceed 
$760,000,000. 
SEC. 13. In planning the use of, and in using credits from, net power 
revenues available for the purpose of assisting in the pay-out of costs 
of participating projects herein and hereafter authorized in the States 
of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, the Secretary shall 
have regard for the achievement within each of said States of the 
fullest practicable use of the waters of the Upper Colorado River 
system, consistent with the apportionment thereof among such States. 
SEC. 14. In the operation and maintenance of all facilities, author-
ized by Federal law and under the jurisdiction and supervision of the 
Secretary of the Interior, in the basin of the Colorado River, the 
Secretary of the Interior is directed to comply with the applicable 
70 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 486-APR. 11, 1956 
111 
59 Stat. 1219. 
Report to Conr 
gresB. 
Definitions. 
provisions of the Colorado Kiver Compact, the Upper Colorado River 
Basin Compact, the Boulder Canyon Project Act, the Boulder Canyon 
" |tatl w^s?; 54 
Project Adjustment Act, and the Treaty with the United Mexican ^*43*usc*6i7 note. 
States, in the storage and release of water from reservoirs in the 6i»o 
Colorado River Basin. 
In the event of the failure of the Secretary 
of the Interior to so comply, any State of the Colorado River Basin 
may maintain an action in the Supreme Court of the United States 
to enforce the provisions of this section, and consent is given to the 
joinder of the United States as a party in such suit or suits, as a 
defendant or otherwise. 
SEC. 15. The Secretary of the Interior is directed to continue studies 
and to make a report to the Congress and to the States of the Colorado 
River Basin on the quality of water of the Colorado River. 
SEC. 16. As used in this Act— 
The terms "Colorado River Basin", "Colorado River Compact", 
"Colorado River System", "Lee Ferry", "States of the Upper Divi-
sion", "Upper Basin", and "domestic use" shall have the meaning 
ascribed to them in article I I of the Upper Colorado River Basin 
Compact; 
The term "States of the Upper Colorado River Basin'" shall mean 
the States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming; 
The term "Upper Colorado River Basin" shall have the same mean-
ing as the term "Upper Basin"; 
The term "Upper Colorado River Basin Compact" shall mean that 
certain compact executed on October 11,1948 by commissioners repre-
senting the States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and 
Wyoming, and consented to by the Congress of the United States of 
America by Act of April 6,1949 (63 Stat. 31) ; 
The term "Rio Grande Compact" shall mean that certain compact 
executed on March 18, 1938, by commissioners representing the States 
of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas and consented to by the Congress 
of the United States of America by Act of May 31,1939 (53 Stat. 785) ; 
The term "Treaty with the United IVIexican States" shall mean that 
certain treaty between the Ignited States of America and the United 
Mexican States, signed at Washington, District of Columbia, February 
3, 1944, relating to the utilization of the waters of the Colorado River 
59 stat. 1219. 
and other rivers, as amended and supplemented by the protocol dated 
November 14, 1944, and the understandings recited in the Senate 
resolution of April 18, 1945, advising and consenting to ratification 
thereof. 
Approved April 11, 1956. 
Public Law 486 
CHAPTER 204 
AN ACT 
April 11, 1956 
To establish a Domestic Relations Branch in the Municipal Court for the 
[S. 1289] 
District of Columbia, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and^ House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS BRANCH, MUNICIPAL 
COURT 
FOR T H E DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 
SEC. 101. That there is hereby created in the Municipal Court 
for the District of Columbia a Domestic Relations Branch. 
SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.—^As used in this Act— 
(a) "Branch" and "Domestic Relations Branch" mean the Do-
"Branch", "Do-
mestic 
Relations 
Branch".