WSP12980

• File Number: 8210.140.20.C
• Description: Imperial Irrigation District ‎(IID)‎
• State: CA
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 1/9/1996
• Author: Imperial Irrigation District
• Title: Water Requirements and Availability Sutdy ‎(draft)‎
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

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with daytime temperatures exceeding 1000P more than 100 days per year. The remainder of the
year, however, sees a relatively mild climate with temperatures averaging in the mid-70s.

ILC History of lID
As early as the 1850s, the idea of diverting Colorado River water to the Imperial Valley for
irrigation purposes was generating the interest of developers, and in particular Dr. O. M.
Wozencroft. In the last years of the 19th Century, the California Development Company was
formed in order to finance C.R. Rockwood's design of Wozencroft's dream project, which
Rockwood had investigated and surveyed extensively for four years. In 1901, the Imperial Canal
(also known as the Alamo Canal) was completed, diverting waters from the Colorado River near
Pilot Knob, and traversing through Mexico about 40 miles before crossing into the United States
east of what is now Calexico. A couple of years later a bypass channel was constructed to
counter problems associated with the high concentrations of silt in Imperial Canal. In 1904,
flood waters from the Colorado and Gila Rivers caused the failure of this temporary structure.
As a result of this break and nearly two years of free flowing Colorado River water, the Salton
Sink was subsequently transformed into the Salton Sea and to this day continues to serve as the
regional drainage basin. Financial problems plagued the California Development Company over
the next few years, due in part to the large debt they had incurred while successfully returning the
Colorado River to its normal course. The California Development Company was eventually
taken over by their largest creditor, Southern Pacific Company.

In 1911, the IID was formed to acquire properties of the bankrupt California Development
Company and its Mexican Subsidiary, in an attempt to let public ownership manage the Valley's
problematic water distribution business. Shortly thereafter, in an effort to consolidate the
distribution of water for the entire Valley, the District began acquiring all other water companies
that had developed and were operating distribution canals in the Valley. The District also
actively pursued the development and improvement of irrigation technologies such as subsurface
tile drainage systems.

Draft: Subject To Revision 12/21/95

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