Idaho § 43-1705 - Proof of reclamation and settlement - Patent

§ 43-1705. Proof of reclamation and settlement - Patent

Within one (1) year after the district authorized to construct irrigation works under the provisions of this title shall have notified the settlers under such works that it is prepared to furnish water under the terms of the contract with the state, said settlers shall cultivate and reclaim not less than one-sixteenth (1/16) part of the land filed upon, and within two (2) years after said notice, the settler shall have irrigated and cultivated not less than one-eighth (1/8) of the land filed upon, and within three (3) years after the date of said notice the settler shall appear before the director of the department of water resources, a judge or clerk of any court of record within the state, or a commissioner appointed by the department of water resources, and make final proof of the reclamation, settlement and occupation, which proof shall embrace evidence that he has paid all of the assessments levied and assessed against said land by the district, or he shall present a tax deed issued by the treasurer of said district and also prove that all assessments levied and assessed by the district against said land have been paid; that he has been an actual settler thereon and has cultivated and irrigated not less than one-eighth (1/8) part of said tract; and such further proof, if any, as may be required by the regulations of the department of the interior and the department of water resources.

The officer taking this proof shall be entitled to receive a fee of two dollars ($2.00), which fee shall be paid by the settler and shall be in addition to the price paid to the state for the land: provided, that when the director of the department of water resources takes final proof, all fees received by him shall be turned into the state treasury. The commissioners appointed by the department of water resources are hereby authorized to administer oaths.

All proofs so received shall be submitted to the department of water resources accompanied by the final payment for the said land, and upon approval of the same by said department, the settler shall be entitled to his patent. If the land shall not be embraced in any patent theretofore issued to the state by the United States, the proof shall be forwarded to the secretary of the interior with the request that a patent to said lands be issued to the state.

When the works designed for the irrigation of lands under the provisions of this chapter shall be so far completed as to actually furnish an ample supply of water in a substantial ditch or canal to reclaim any particular tract or tracts of such lands, the state of Idaho shall, through the department of water resources, make proof of such fact, and shall apply for a patent to such lands in the manner provided in the regulations of the department of the interior.