Imperial Irrigation District Water Use Study, 1957-2002

The Imperial Irrigation District (IID), located near the U.S.-Mexico border in California, is one of the largest irrigation districts in the country. From 1993 to 2002, Jensen evaluated the Imperial Irrigation District's water usage for the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). In his first report for the USBR in 1995, Jensen concluded that the IID was using an unreasonable amount of water. This series consists of the handwritten notes, data, correspondence, references, and drafts used by Jensen for evaluating the IID, defending his report after the IID contested his results, responding to criticisms, and collaborating with Ivan A. Walter on additional assessments of the IID for the USBR. The series is arranged into three subseries in chronological order according to the reports that Jensen worked on. The materials are divided: Water Use Assessment of the Imperial Irrigation District, Assessment of 1987-1996 Water Use by the Imperial Irrigation District Using Water Balance and Cropping Data, and Assessment of 1997-2001 Water Use by the Imperial Irrigation District. Each subseries is named after the title of the final report for that particular phase of evaluation of the IID for the USBR.

The subseries are arranged in rough chronological order according to the original order used by Dr. Jensen. Most material was previously housed in three-ring binders. Folders are labeled with the original binder titles. These and the internal divider titles are listed in the inventory. For clarity, some binder and folder titles were taken from an inventory list provided by Dr. Jensen, not the actual binder spine or divider label.