1850-1900        

1853 – William P. Blake, a geologist, took barometric readings which proved that the valley was below sea level and could be irrigated by a gravity-flow canal diverting from the Colorado River    

 1861 – Dr. Oliver M. Wozencraft hired an engineer to take a survey and recommend a location for a canal. He later pushed for legislation in Congress to authorize the development of the Imperial Valley              

1895 – 1899 - A series of water appropriates was made by individuals and also by the California Development Company under the existing laws of the State of California, by posting notices at the intended point of diversion and recording them with the County Recorder of San Diego County (Imperial County was not organized until some time later)                        

1896 – Mr. Charles L. Rockwood and his associates organized the California Development Company—hereinafter referred to as the C.D. Company—under the laws of New Jersey, on April 25, 1896, with a capital stock of $1,250,000 consisting of 12,500 shares with a par value of $100 each 

1900-1925 

1900 – Actual excavation of the intake canal at Hanlon Heading commenced in August 1900 with a four-yard dredge which Chaffey had purchased in Yuma 

1901 – California Development Company began diversions into a canal 

1905 – 1907 – Gila River tributary floods, resulted in the entire flow of the Colorado River entering Imperial Valley, creating what is known today as the Salton Sea                        

1911 – Imperial Irrigation District formed for the purpose of acquiring the rights and properties of the C.D. Company and its two Mexican companies.                          

1922 – IID acquired 13 mutual water companies; the district was now delivering water to 500,000 acres                        

1922 – November, representatives from the upper (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) and lower (Arizona, California, and Nevada) basin states signed the Colorado River Compact, giving each basin perpetual rights to annual apportionments of 7.5 million acre-feet (MAF) of Colorado River Water 

1925-1950        

 1928 – Boulder Canyon Project Act passed, authorizing the construction of the Hoover Dam and the All-American Canal 

1929 – California Limitation Act limits California’s annual water consumption to 4.4 MAF                        

1929 – 424,145 acres of the Imperial Valley were being irrigated 

1931 – California Seven-Party Agreement established how/where the 4.4 MAF was to be used 1932 – December, the Secretary of the Interior, acting on behalf of the United States, executed a contract with IID to deliver Colorado River Water 1940’s – On-farm tile drainage and seepage recovery conservation programs begun 

 1942 – Water now diverted at Imperial Dam on the Colorado River through the All-American Canal—both still operated and maintained by IID 

1944 – Treaty signed with Mexico, entitles Mexico to 1.5 MAF of Colorado River water each year 1950-1975        

1950—1975

1950's – Seepage recovery, canal and lateral concrete lining, and automation projects were completed as part of the water distribution system conservation efforts

1964 – Supreme Court decreed in Arizona v. California, that IID has ‘present-perfected’ rights to 2.6 MAF of water annually 

1970’s – IID completed a number of regulating reservoir projects and administrative water conservation programs 

1975-2000        

1979 – second case, Arizona v. California, reaffirmed California’s rights to 2.6 MAF of Colorado River water annually 

1980’s – New water conservation projects and programs were started every year, including tailwater return systems and irrigation management                        

1988 – Agreement between IID and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) for the transfer of up to 110,000 acre-feet per year for a 35-year period                        

1990 – January, construction begins on projects agreed upon in MWD agreement                        

1998 – IID and San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) entered into a long-term conservation and water transfer agreement                        

1999 – IID Board of Directors, Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD), and MWD approved the Key Terms for Quantification Settlement among the State of California, Imperial Irrigation District, Coachella Irrigation District, and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, as the basis for obtaining public input regarding Colorado River use in California—this is referred to as the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) 

2000-Today    

2001 – 2003-IID, CVWD, and MWD engaged in QSA negotiations with the State of California and the US Bureau of Reclamation 

2002 – June, IID published the final environmental impact reports and a habitat conservation plan required for the IID/SDCWA water conservation and transfer program                        

2002 - December, the State Water Resources Control Board approved the IID/SDCWA transfer                        

2003 – October, Colorado River Water Delivery Agreement (Federal Agreement) was signed by the US Secretary of the Interior, the CVWD, IID, MWD and SDCWA; also, the QSA and Related Agreements were signed by the US Secretary of the Interior and representatives of various Indian tribes, the US Bureau of Reclamation, CVWD, IID, MWD and SDCWA                        

2003 – December, IID implementation of 13-month Emergency Fallowing Program; IID paid water users to fallow 69 fields to generate water to meet transfer and mitigation obligations defined in the QSA 

2004 – April, IID acquired 41,761.4 acres of agricultural lands located within its service area from a California limited partnership, to ensure that IID would be able to meet its water transfer and mitigation obligations for the duration of the required fallowing period (through 2017) 

2004 – July, IID implementation of second Fallowing Program; 118 fields were fallowed 

2004 – September, IID engaged Parsons Water and Infrastructure, Inc. for project management and construction management of the All-American Canal Lining Project (AACLP)