When the commissioner of school and public lands ascertains that what, if surveyed, would be sections sixteen and thirty-six, or any part thereof, granted to the state, falls upon any lake or navigable river, and that the quantity of land intended to be conveyed as sections sixteen or thirty-six is lost to the state thereby, it shall be the duty of such commissioner to apply to the secretary of the interior for permission to select indemnity lands in lieu of the loss, in quantity so sustained by the state.
SDCL 5-3-6