CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. No. RIGHT OF WAY NEAR ENGLE, TEX. APRIL 12, 1916.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. HERNANDEZ, from the Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany S. 1843.] The Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands, to which was referred the bill (S. 1843) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire certain right of way near Engle, N. Mex., having had the same under consideration, reports the bill to the House with recommendation that the bill do pass with the following amendments: On page 2, line 2, after the word "month:" insert the following: "Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior shall at all times have authority to determine the times, place, and manner in which said Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company shall be permitted to take such water from said reservoir, and that all expense incident thereto shall be borne by said railway company." On page 2, line 2, after the word "Provided," insert the word "further. This bill has been referred to the Interior Department, and the Secretary of that department furnished the committee with the following report: Hon. W. R. SMITH, WASHINGTON, February 29, 1916. Chairman Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. SMITH: With your letter of February 9 was received copy of H. R. 4828, a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to acquire certain right of way near Engle, N. Mex., with request for my views relative thereto. The bill appears to be identical with Senate bill 1843, upon which I submitted report and recommendation to the Senate Committee on Public Lands January 8, 1916. A copy of said report is inclosed for your information. Cordially, yours, FRANKLIN K. LANE, Secretary, The copy of the Secretary's report and recommendation to the Senate committee is as follows: Hon. HENRY L. MYERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman Committee on Public Lands, United States Senate. MY DEAR SENATOR: I am in receipt of your letter of December 17, 1915, forwarding for consideration, report, and suggestions, S. 1843, entitled "A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire certain right of way near Engle, N. Mex." In response, I have to invite your attention to our letter of September 23, 1913, reporting on S. 3112, Sixty-third Congress, first session, entitled "A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire certain right of way near Engle, N. Mex.," in which the department said: "I am in receipt, by your reference for report of S. 3112, which proposes to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire from the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Co. certain lands within the limits of the Engle Reservoir, Rio Grande reclamation project, in exchange for such quantity of water to be furnished from the Government reservoir, as the Secretary of the Interior may find to be necessary for the operation of the company's railway, but not exceeding 30,000,000 gallons of water per month. Sub "The facts as shown by the records of this department are that the company acquired a right of way of a strip of land between a point near Engle, N. Mex., and the Rio Grande River with the intention of piping water from the river for railroad uses. sequently an adequate supply of water for present uses was secured from wells located nearer the line of the railroad, but the right of way was retained by the company for extension of the pipe line to the river if necessary. "After the undertaking of the Rio Grande reclamation project under the reclamation act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat., 388), and that of the act of February 15, 1905 (33 Stat. 814), it was found that the said tract of land would necessarily be included within the exterior limits of the reservoir now under construction for the impounding of the waters of the Rio Grande in connection with said reclamation project. The railway company was willing to convey to the United States all of said tract which would be flooded by the reservoir in return for a water supply from the reservoir, not exceeding 30,000,000 gallons per month, but was unwilling to sell the land for cash for the alleged reason that it would be deprived of the water necessary for the operation of the railroad. Upon consideration of the matter the department reached the conclusion that it was without authority to exchange such a water right for the desired lands. "The purpose of S. 3112 is, therefore, to obtain congressional sanction for the exchange of water from the reservoir for a full and complete title to the said land of the railway company. "I am advised by the Director of the Reclamation Service that it will be to the interests of the United States to make the exchange proposed rather than to acquire the tract by purchase or condemnation and pay cash therefor; and, further, that, in his opinion, while the amount of water to be furnished is fixed in the bill at 30,000,000 gallons per month, or such amount as the Secretary of the Interior may find to be necessary for the operation of the railway, it is his opinion that the company will not require the maximum amount of water for railway purposes, because the railway line is not a trunk line but a branch line and comparatively few trains are operated upon it. "In view of the foregoing, and having in mind the interests of the United States, of the future water users under the project who must ultimately pay the cost thereof, and of the railway company, the department has no objection to interpose to the enactment of the measure if it be amended in two particulars: "(1) That the United States shall not be required to furnish the water to the company but that the company be allowed to take from the reservoir such amount of water as the bill proposes to authorize; in other words, the United States should not be required to assume the burden of delivering the water to the company, but the company should, in future, as it does at present, itself convey water from the source of supply to the place of use. "(2) The bill should obligate the United States to allow the water to be taken only when same is available in the reservoir. In other words, the United States should not assume any responsibility or liability in the event that, through any accident or other unavoidable cause, there should be no water available to the company in the reservoir. I therefore suggest that the clause beginning with the word 'and,' in line 8, page 1, and ending with the words 'Reclamation Service,' in line 12, page 1, be stricken out and the following inserted in lieu thereof: 'and as the consideration for such conveyance the railway company shall be permitted to take from the water impounded above Elephant Butte Dam, now under construction by the Reclamation Service'; also, that a proviso be added to the bill, as follows: Provided, That neither the United States nor its successors in interest shall be held liable for or obligated to supply the water hereinbefore described; but in the event that the United States or its successors in interest shall abandon the use of the land upon which the said Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway has its said right of way for a reservoir site, as herein contemplated, said right of way, so far as the same may be conveyed to the United States hereunder, shall revert to the said railway company.' 'Respectfully, "A. A. JONES, Acting Secretary." Inasmuch as S. 1843, Sixty-fourth Congress, first session, conforms in every particular to the report of this department of September 23, 1913, I see no objection to its enactment into law, and I recommend the passage of the bill. Cordially, yours, FRANKLIN K. LANE. |