El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1

This irrigation district covers the El Paso Valley of the Rio Grande in west Texas, stretching from near downtown El Paso east to Tornillo and bordered on the southwest by Mexico. It consists of two main canals, the Franklin and the Riverside, along with 67 laterals and 37 drains. The Bureau of Reclamation built it between 1912 and 1940, rebuilding some older ditch alignments and creating new ones, and absorbing earlier acequias set up by Hispanic settlers. Today the system includes 206 miles of canals and laterals and 195 miles of drains, serving about 56,000 acres of farmland. Many ditches have been lined with concrete, yet most canals remain earthen, and the basic layout is almost unchanged since construction. Small control features such as checks, drops and gates have mostly been replaced over the past fifty years. The system remains in active use and still works on its historic design. The listing covers only publicly owned canals and drains, with 104 contributing structures.