landholding of any qualified recipient eligible to receive Federal recla-
mation project water. Qualified recipients would include an individual,
his or her spouse, or dependents thereof as defined by the Internal
Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 152), or any legal entity directly benefiting
25 persons or less, and that is a citizen of the United States and owns
or leases a landholding. The Secretary would be allowed to limit the
number of holdings receiving project water and managed by any per-
son on behalf of a qualified recipient. The Secretary would be required
to designate, upon the request of a qualified recipient, an equivalency
formula for determining the acreage of a landholding which is eligible
to receive project water and which is the equivalent of 1280 acres of
class 1 land for lands of .lesser productive potential. The equivalency
policy would apply only to projects, units, or districts where the grow-
ing season is 180 days or less. New acreage limitation provisions would
apply within 1 year of enactment.
 Residency would not be required of a qualified recipient. Multiple
ownerships would be allowed for entities "directly benefiting" 25
persons or less. Leasing would be allowed within the acreage limits
provided, but new purchasers would be required to farm land for 10
years prior to leasing it. Existing leases as of January 1, 1978, would
be recognized for the duration, or 10 years, whichever is shorter.
 S. 14 would call for release from acreage limitation provisions for
any landholding upon "payout" (completion of repayment) of any
contract with the Secretary relating to delivery of water supplies. An
exemption from legal limitations would be provided for charitable or
religious non-profit organizations holding land as of January 1, 1978.
The Secretary would be required to amend existing contracts, upon
the request of the holder, to conform to provisions of the bill if
enacted.
 DISCUSSION AND DEPARTMENTAL VIEWS
 We will work with the format of S. 14 which covers the principal
 issues; these primary issues are acreage, equivalency, residency, leas-
 ing, payout, and timing of the application of new provisions. We pro-
 pose numerous additions and amendments to S. 14, however.
 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
 The Department strongly supports the original purposes of the
 Reclamation Act of 1902. We consider it important in this major legis-
 lative effort to clearly reaffirm those purposes at this time. Conse-
 quently, we propose in Section 2 of our amendments the addition of a
 statement of purpose to S. 14 setting forth the major objective which
 we believe were embodied in the original Act and have continuing
 validity. Those purposes are: (a) to promote owner-operated family
 farms; (b) to provide opportunity for a maximum number of farmers
 on the land and for individuals to get a start in farming; (c) to dis-
 tribute widely the benefits of federally subsidized reclamation projects;
 (d) to preclude speculative gain in the disposition of excess lands; and
 (e) to provide for sound repayment practices from those receiving
 federally supplied water.
 ELIGIBILITY
 We would also add a separate section on eligibility (Section 4 of our
 amendments), setting forth as clearly and succinctly as possible those