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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 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.
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