and shall further agree to keep a full and correct account of all operations and make reports thereof, as required by the applicable regulations of the Department; and their books and records, showing manner of operations and persons interested, shall be open at all times for examination of such officers of the Department as shall be instructed in writing by the Secretary of the Interior or authorized by regulations, to make such examination.

§ 184.26 Assignments and overriding royalties.

(a) Leases, or any interest therein, may be assigned or transferred only with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, and to procure such approval the assignee must be qualified to hold such lease under existing rules and regulations, and shall furnish a satisfactory bond for the faithful performance of the covenants and conditions thereof. No lease or any interest therein, or the use of such lease, shall be assigned, sublet, or transferred directly or indirectly, by working or drilling contract, or otherwise, without the consent of the Secretary of the Interior. Assignments of leases shall be filed with the superintendent within 20 days after the date of execution.

(b) An agreement creating overriding royalties or payments out of production under this part shall be subject to the provisions of § 171.26 (d) of this chapter, or as hereafter amended.

[22 F.R. 10622, Dec. 24, 1957, as amended at 23 F.R. 9759, Dec. 18, 1958]

86-046-68- -19

the Secretary of the Interior, surrender a lease or any part of it:

(a) That he make application for cancellation to the superintendent having jurisdiction over the land.

(b) That he pay a surrender fee of $1 at the time the application is made.

(c) That he pay all royalties and rentals due to the date of such application.

(d) That he make a satisfactory showing that full provision has been made for conservation and protection of the property and that all wells, drilled on the portion of the lease surrendered, have been properly abandoned.

(e) If the lease has been recorded, that he file, with his application, a recorded release of the acreage covered by the application.

(f) If the application is for the cancellation of the entire lease or the entire undivided portion, that he surrender the lease: Provided, That where the application is made by an assignee to whom no copy of the lease was delivered, he will be required to surrender only his copy of the assignment.

(g) If the lease (or portion being surrendered or cancelled) is owned in undivided interests by more than one party, then all parties shall join in the application for cancellation.

(h) That all required fees and papers must be in the mail or received on or before the date upon which rents and royalties become due, in order for the lessee and his surety to be relieved from liability for the payment of such royalties and rentals.

(i) In the event oil or gas is being drained from the leased premises by wells not covered by the lease; the lease, or any part of it, may be surrendered, only on such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Interior may determine to be reasonable and equitable.

Unless otherwise authorized by the Secretary of the Interior or his authorized representative, each lease, sublease, or assignment shall be accompanied at the time of filing by a fee of $10.

(Sec. 1, 41 Stat. 415, as amended; 25 U.S.C. 413) [24 F. R. 7949, Oct. 2, 1959] § 184.30 Forms.

The provisions of § 171.30 of this chapter, or as hereafter amended, are applicable to this part.

[24 F.R. 7949, Oct. 2, 1959]

PART 191-BLACKFEET IRRIGATION PROJECT, MONTANA

Organization.

Irrigation season.

Domestic and stock use.

Farm units.

Delivery point.

Record of deliveries.

Users responsible for delivered water.

Sec.

191.1

191.2

191.3

191.4

191.5

191.6

191.7

Duty of water.

191.8

191.9

Waste water.

the beginning of the season's operation, and a corresponding change may be made for the date of closing the season, if it is to the best interests of the project or the farmers to do so. In no event, however, shall the canals be operated, during any one season for a period in excess of 6 months.

§ 191.3

Domestic and stock use.

Irrigation projects are primarily built and maintained for serving land with water for the irrigation of crops during the growing season and not for supplying domestic and stock water during the winter months or nonirrigation season. § 191.4 Farm units.

For the purpose of the rules and regulations in this part and the delivery of water, a farm unit is defined as a tract in single contiguous ownership or allotment containing not less than one 40-acre subdivision of the public survey. In the case of leases a farm unit will be considered a tract in a single lease comprising one or more contiguous tracts.

§ 191.5 Delivery point.

The general rule of the project shall be one delivery point at the upper boundary of the farm unit or allotment, and the project shall maintain the lateral system to that extent. In special cases where from a cost or topographic standpoint it is impracticable for the landowner or lessee to irrigate the entire irrigable area of his tract from one delivery point, the project engineer is authorized to establish additional delivery point but in no instance shall more than one delivery point be established and maintained when the landowner or lessee can at a reasonable expense provide for delivery by the construction of suitable head ditches.

§ 191.6 Record of deliveries.

Water users who are entitled to the delivery of water shall file with the ditchrider, or other proper operation employee, 48 hours in advance of the time delivery is desired, a properly signed water request card on which is indicated the time delivery is desired, the description of the subdivision area to be irrigated, and the turnouts to be used. Printed water request cards will be supplied by the proj

ect. Request cards are required for each irrigation, and upon completion of a delivery the water user shall acknowledge same by signing the water request card. Ditchriders are specifically prohibited from making water delivery to any water user until he (the ditchrider) receives notice from the project office that all charges have been paid and proper water request cards have been filed by the water user. Water request cards for all completed deliveries must be filed in the project office at the end of each month during the irrigation season, and he must also file a statement of all uncompleted deliveries with the estimated acreage irrigated under such requests to the end of the month.

§ 191.7 Duty of water.

Water will be delivered, subject to the provisions of the regulations in this part, on demand basis so long as a sufficient quantity is available for project use. In case of a shortage of water, the project engineer is authorized to adopt a rotation system, either for the entire project or for individual units thereof, when, in his opinion, such action is for the best interests of the project in the apportionment to each water user of his just proportionate share of the available water supply.

§ 191.8 Users responsible for delivered

water.

It is the duty of the Indian Irrigation Service to furnish water for beneficial irrigation use only, and it is the duty of the water user to assist in the prevention of waste, and also prevent damage to adjacent lands. Water users are responsible for water after it is delivered to their land, and they are required to have their field ditches in suitable condition and of such capacity as to permit the use of economical heads.

§ 191.9 Waste water.

Water users will be required to construct and maintain in good order and repair upon their lands, such ditches as may be necessary to catch and conduct to some waste canal, ditch or natural drainage channel, all waste water flowing upon or from their lands. No waste water shall be allowed to flow upon a road or highway right of way, and no waste water will be allowed to collect within 20 feet of any canal or lateral belonging to the United States, nor shall any waste water ditches be

(a) All necessary headgates checks, drops, turnouts, flumes and measuring devices will be installed and maintained by the project. Any person or corporation desiring to build a bridge or other structures over, under, in or across a project canal, lateral or drainage ditch, shall first obtain from the project engineer a written permit to build such structures, which permit shall stipulate that it is granted and accepted by the permittee on the condition that the repair and maintenance of the structures shall be the duty of the permittee, or his successors, without cost to the project. The permit shall further provide that if any such structure be not regularly used for a period of one year or more the project engineer may notify the person responsible for its maintenance to remove it within a period of 90 days; and that if the structure is not removed within the time allowed, it may thereafter be removed by the project engineer, the cost of such removal to be paid by the party responsible for the maintenance of the structure.

(b) Where a new Irrigation project is installed, or an existing project is extended to an area without existing roads, and the construction of roads, bridges, or culverts becomes necessary, the project engineer shall investigate the possibility of liquidating all or part of the cost of such construction by securing funds from any governmental agency providing funds for such purposes, and he is authorized to negotiate, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, any necessary agreement with such governmental agency.

(c) All persons or corporations are warned against the violation of this section.

canals or laterals operated and maintained by the project. Such ditches which have been or may be placed upon the project right-of-way are considered an encroachment, and are subject to regulation contained in § 191.12. The watermaster and ditchriders are authorized to refuse delivery of water to ditches that are not in proper condition to receive and convey it to the place of use with a minimum loss. While the water is measured at the point of delivery to ditches from canals and laterals operated and maintained by the project and the loss would be to the detriment of the user, the law provides that water must be used beneficially.

§ 191.12 Right-of-way.

For use in the necessary activities and emergencies incident to the operation and maintenance of the irrigation system, there is reserved a right-of-way along all canals, laterals, sublaterals and drains, in addition to the land actually occupied by such channels and their embankments, measured from the outside limits of the embankments or channel, a strip of land of sufficient width on each side of said canals, laterals, sublaterals and drains to permit the operation of maintenance equipment, making repairs and improvements, and travel by the project ditchriders.

§ 191.13 Obstructions; their removal.

No trees, buildings, hay or straw stacks, or other obstructions are to be placed upon said reserved right-of-way by any adjacent landowners or others. Any trees, buildings, hay or straw stacks, or other obstructions of any kind whatsoever, located upon said right-of-way may be ordered removed by the project engineer, and if not removed by the person or persons placing them thereon they shall be removed under the supervision of the project engineer at his discretion, and the cost of such removal shall be added to the cost of operation and maintenance of the particular tract of land under the project belonging to the persons so placing or causing such obstructions to be placed thereon.

sufficient width to pass ditch cleaning equipment and to permit travel on the banks of the canal or lateral by the ditchrider. Such gates must be provided with some approved convenient type of fastening which will permit the ditchrider to open and close them with a minimum loss of time. Any wire or timbers used in fencing across a canal or lateral shall not be closer than 12 inches to the maximum high water surface. § 191.15 Water users' ledgers.

Separate entries shall be made in the water users' ledgers for each tract. Bills are issued to the record owner, and payments made thereon are credited to the proper ledger accounts.

§ 191.16 Assessments.

The annual per acre charge for operation and maintenance shall be levied against the entire irrigable area of each farm unit or allotment to which irrigation water can be delivered from present constructed works. Charges shall become due and payable in accordance with the annual public notice issued each year, and the provisions of the annual public notice regarding refusal of delivery of water in case of delinquency shall be enforced.

§ 191.17 Interference with project operation.

No persons other than those specifically designated by the project engineer are authorized to regulate project structures or to interfere in any way with project operated canals or any works appurtenant thereto, or the water flowing therein.

§ 191.18 Crop and statistical report.

A crop and statistical report on forms furnished for that purpose will be taken each year by the ditchrider or some person authorized to do so. This report will show the number of acres devoted to each crop, total yield and value of crops for each unit of the project and for the entire project.

§ 191.19 Co-operation between users and employees.

Close co-operation between the project water users and the project management is desired, and will work to the advantage of the entire project. Suggestions looking to better or more economical service will be welcomed by the project management. Information as to damage or danger to canals or structures shall be

each year. These dates may be varied as much as 15 days when the Commissioner determines that weather conditions and the necessity for doing maintenance work warrant doing so.

§ 192.3

Domestic and stock use.

Irrigation projects are primarily built and maintained for serving land with water for the irrigation of crops during the growing season. Water for domestic and stock water use shall be delivered during the non-irrigation season only at the discretion of the Commissioner or his authorized representative.

§ 192.4 Farm units.

For the purpose of the rules and regulations in this part and for the delivery of water, a farm unit shall be defined as a contiguous area of land in single ownership containing not less than one 40-acre subdivision of the public survey regardless of its original status as a farm unit or allotment. In the case of leases a farm unit shall be defined as the contiguous area under a single lease.

§ 192.5 Delivery point.

The general rule of the project shall be one delivery point at the upper boundary of the farm unit or allotment, and the project shall maintain the lateral system to that extent. In special cases where from a cost or topographic standpoint it is impracticable for the landowner or lessee to irrigate the entire irrigable area of his tract from one delivery point, the Commissioner shall be authorized to establish additional delivery points but in no instance shall more than one delivery point be established and maintained when the landowner or lessee can at a reasonable expense provide for delivery by the construction of suitable head ditches.

§ 192.6 Method of delivery.

Water for irrigation purposes shall be delivered throughout the irrigation season at the discretion of the Commissioner either by the continuous flow or rotation method.

§ 192.7 Duty of water.

Water shall be delivered subject to the provisions of the regulations in this part, on a demand basis so long as a sufficient quantity is available for project use. In case of a shortage of water, the Commissioner is authorized to adopt a rotation system, either for the entire project or