43 U.S.C. § 439 — Cultivation requirement as to entrymen

This is a short rule about land claimed under a federal irrigation project. Anyone who has entered — meaning claimed — land that will be irrigated must do two things. First, they must comply with the regular homestead laws that apply to any homestead claim. Second, and on top of that, they must "reclaim" — meaning farm or cultivate — at least half of the total irrigable area within their claim. "Irrigable area" means the part of the land that can actually be irrigated and farmed. In short: claiming irrigated government land isn't enough on its own. The claimant has to actually put at least half of the farmable, irrigable part of that land into agricultural use, in addition to meeting the usual homestead requirements.