History of the Irrigation and Drainage Division to the Environmental and Water Resources Institute: 1922-2004

Abstract

The Irrigation Engineering (IR) Division in ASCE was authorized on June 20, 1922 with 23 members and a five-member Executive Committee elected by members of the Division. The Division grew to 645 members and affiliates by 1927. The IR Division was renamed the Irrigation and Drainage (I&D) Division in 1953. A summary of the Division's activities includes water conservation, capacity of irrigated lands to pay irrigation costs, sedimentation in reservoirs, irrigation conveyance losses, irrigation and drainage practices in humid areas, drought, reuse of waters for irrigation, on-farm irrigation, and water quality. Many details are provided in the lists of the committees and task committees during the time this author was associated with numerous phases of and actions taken for the activities. Most of the information came directly from the information in the ASCE Year Books and/or Official Registers as referenced herein. The task committees are all listed by year, committee, and they are in italics. The 1995 ASCE Strategic Plan called for the creation of semi-autonomous Institutes for groups of engineering specialties within ASCE. In 1999, the Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI) was formed from the former Technical Divisions of Environmental (Sanitary in 1922) Engineering, Water Resources Engineering (including Irrigation and Drainage), and Water Resources Planning and Management, as well as the ASCE Water and Environmental Standards Council. The present Irrigation and Drainage Council (IDC) of EWRI of ASCE oversees the activities of Technical Committees such as Water Quality and Drainage, Irrigation Delivery and Drainage Systems, Evapotranspiration in Irrigation and Hydrology, and On-Farm Irrigation.