§ 321. — Entry right generally; extent of right to appropriate waters.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 43USC321]
TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS
CHAPTER 9--DESERT-LAND ENTRIES
Sec. 321. Entry right generally; extent of right to appropriate
waters
It shall be lawful for any citizen of the United States, or any
person of requisite age ``who may be entitled to become a citizen, and
who has filed his declaration to become such'' and upon payment of 25
cents per acre--to file a declaration under oath with the officer
designated by the Secretary of the Interior of the land district in
which any desert land is situated, that he intends to reclaim a tract of
desert land not exceeding one-half section, by conducting water upon the
same, within the period of three years thereafter: Provided, however,
That the right to the use of water by the person so conducting the same,
on or to any tract of desert land of three hundred and twenty acres
shall depend upon bona fide prior appropriation; and such right shall
not exceed the amount of water actually appropriated, and necessarily
used for the purpose of irrigation and reclamation; and all surplus
water over and above such actual appropriation and use, together with
the water of all lakes, rivers, and other sources of water supply upon
the public lands and not navigable, shall remain and be held free for
the appropriation and use of the public for irrigation, mining, and
manufacturing purposes subject to existing rights. Said declaration
shall describe particularly said one-half section of land if surveyed,
and, if unsurveyed, shall describe the same as nearly as possible
without a survey. At any time within the period of three years after
filing said declaration, upon making satisfactory proof to the officer
designated by the Secretary of the Interior of the reclamation of said
tract of land in the manner aforesaid, and upon the payment to such
officer of the additional sum of $1 per acre for a tract of land not
exceeding three hundred and twenty acres to any one person, a patent for
the same shall be issued to him. Except as provided in section 3 of the
Act of June 16, 1955, as amended, no person may make more than one entry
under sections 321 to 323, 325, and 327 to 329 of this title. However,
in that entry one or more tracts may be included, and the tracts so
entered need not be contiguous. The aggregate acreage of desert land
which may be entered by any one person under this section shall not
exceed three hundred and twenty acres, and all the tracts entered by one
person shall be sufficiently close to each other to be managed
satisfactorily as an economic unit, as determined under rules and
regulations issued by the Secretary of the Interior.
(Mar. 3, 1877, ch. 107, Sec. 1, 19 Stat. 377; Aug. 30, 1890, ch. 837,
Sec. 1, 26 Stat. 391; Mar. 3, 1891, ch. 561, Sec. 2, 26 Stat. 1096; Oct.
28, 1921, ch. 114, Sec. 1, 42 Stat. 208; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 462, 43 Stat.
1145; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, Sec. 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R.
7876, 60 Stat. 1100; Pub. L. 85-641, Sec. 1, Aug. 14, 1958, 72 Stat.
596.)
References in Text
Section 3 of the Act of June 16, 1955, referred to in text, is
section 3 of act June 16, 1955, ch. 145, 69 Stat. 138, as amended, which
is set out as an Additional Desert-Land Entry note under section 83 of
Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining.
Codification
The original text provided for the sale of 640 acres. The aggregate
quantity which any person could acquire under all the land laws was
limited, however, to 320 acres by act Aug. 30, 1890 (set out as section
212 of this title) except in the case of mineral lands.
Amendments
1958--Pub. L. 85-641 permitted entry on one or more tracts, not
contiguous, but sufficiently close to each other to be managed
satisfactorily as an economic unit.
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies
of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of
the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950,
Secs. 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out
under section 1451 of this title.
``Officer designated by the Secretary of the Interior'' and ``such
officer'' substituted for ``register'' on authority of section 403 of
Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, which abolished all registers of district
land offices and transferred functions of district land offices to
Secretary of the Interior. See section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946,
set out as a note under section 1 of this title.
Previously, references to register and receiver changed to register
by acts Mar. 3, 1925 and Oct. 28, 1921, which consolidated offices of
register and receiver and provided for a single officer to be known as
register.
Arizona Entries Dependent Upon Percolating Waters
Act Aug. 4, 1955, ch. 548, 69 Stat. 491, provided: ``The requirement
of section 1 of the Desert Land Act of March 3, 1877 (19 Stat. 377)
[this section], that the right to the use of water by a desert land
entryman `shall depend upon bona fide prior appropriation' shall be
waived in the case of all desert land entries which have heretofore been
allowed and are subsisting on the effective date of this Act [Aug. 4,
1955] which are dependent upon percolating waters for their reclamation,
and which are situated in the State of Arizona under the laws of which
the percolating waters upon which the entries are dependent are not
subject to the doctrine of prior appropriation but are usable under
State law for irrigation and reclamation purposes.''
Section as Unaffected by Submerged Lands Act
Provisions of this section as not amended, modified or repealed by
the Submerged Lands Act, see section 1303 of this title.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 321, 322, 323, 324, 326,
327, 328, 329, 333, 641, 1303 of this title; title 16 section 460iii-2.
