National Register Listing

El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1

a.k.a. Rio Grande Prject

Starting at the jct. of US 80 and US 85, along TX 20 to Alamo Alto, El Paso, TX

Irrigation farming began in the El Paso area by 1680 and has continued uninterrupted to the present day. Between 1912 and 1940, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR; until 1923, the U.S. Reclamation Service) revolutionized local irrigation agriculture by (1) providing a steady water supply; (2) completely rebuilding the canal system and creating a system of drains; and (3) consolidating multiple organizations into a single water user's association, eventually known as El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1 (EPCWID). Given a predictable water supply, a larger-capacity canal system, and drains to prevent waterlogging of fields, the amount of irrigated farmland in the El Paso Valley increased from 14,000 to 56,0000 acres. As a result of the BOR's intervention, agriculture in the El Paso Valley shifted almost exclusively to cash crops, most notably cotton. The EPCWID historic irrigation system was largely complete by 1940.

Subsequent maintenance of the system has led to changes: a number of canals have been concrete-lined, and most minor engineering features (such as checks and gates) have been replaced. The Riverside Diversion Dam was seriously damaged in a recent flood and has been abandoned. However, the basic fabric of the EPCWID - a series of gravity-fed canals and drains, with manually operated irrigation features -- is essential as it was when the BOR rebuilt the system. Perhaps most important, the EPCWID historic irrigation system is not a relic -- it is a fully functional system, applying the same basic technology established by the BOR in the first half of the century.

Local significance of the district:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1997.