Title 43, Public LandsRelease 119-102

§361 Authority to Explore For, Develop, and Mark Water Holes, Etc.

Title 43 › CHAPTER 11 — DISCOVERY, DEVELOPMENT, AND MARKING OF WATER HOLES, ETC., BY GOVERNMENT › § 361

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior can find, improve, protect, and make springs, streams, and water holes easier to reach on dry public lands so the public can use them. The Secretary can put up and keep durable signs and markers along common travel routes to show where these water sources are. The Secretary can also provide equipment to bring water to the surface at those sites. The Department may make and share maps, reports, and other information showing the exact locations of those water sources in relation to travel routes.

Full Legal Text

Title 43, §361

Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and empowered, in his discretion in so far as the authorization made herein will permit, to discover, develop, protect, and render more accessible for the benefit of the general public, springs, streams, and water holes on arid public lands of the United States; and in connection therewith to erect and maintain suitable and durable monuments and signboards at proper places and intervals along and near the accustomed lines of travel and over the general area of said desert lands, containing information and directions as to the location and nature of said springs, streams, and water holes, to the end that the same may be more readily traced and found by persons in search or need thereof; also to provide convenient and ready means, apparatus, and appliances by which water may be brought to the earth’s surface at said water holes for the use of such persons; also to prepare and distribute suitable maps, reports, and general information relating to said springs, streams, and water holes, and their specific location with reference to lines of travel.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

43 U.S.C. § 361

Title 43, Public Lands

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102