Any citizen of the United States, or any person having declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States (excepting married women), over the age of twenty-one (21) years, may make application under oath to the department of water resources to enter any of said land in an amount not to exceed one hundred sixty (160) acres for any one (1) person; and such application shall set forth that the person desiring to make such entry does so for the purpose of actual reclamation, cultivation and settlement in accordance with the act of congress and the laws of this state relating thereto, and that the applicant has never received the benefit of the provisions of any Carey Act law to an amount greater than one hundred sixty (160) acres, including the number of acres specified in the application under consideration. Such application must be accompanied by a certified copy of a contract for the water rights, made and entered into by the person making the application with the district, which has been authorized by the department to furnish water for the reclamation of said lands; and if said applicant has at any previous time entered lands under the provisions of any Carey Act law, he shall so state in the application, together with description, date of entry and location of said land. The department shall thereupon file in its office the application and papers relating thereto, and, if allowed, issue a certificate of location to the applicant.
All applications for entry shall be accompanied by a payment of twenty-five cents (25¢) per acre, which shall be paid as a partial payment on the land if the application is allowed; and all certificates when issued shall be recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose. If the application is not allowed, the twenty-five cents (25¢) per acre accompanying it shall be refunded to the applicant. The department of water resources shall dispose of all lands accepted by the state under the provisions of this chapter at a uniform price of fifty cents (50¢) per acre, half to be paid at the time of entry and the remainder at the time of making final proof by the settler.