IEMPS conducted a short
business survey on irrigation districts and canal companies. The IEMPS questionnaire was
conducted after visiting the office of an enterprise. It was left with the
manager/superintendent to complete. IEMPS then phoned and went through the questionnaire
completely to make sure all questions were understood and answered properly. The survey
was designed to update information on trends in governance and office management.
Additional information from the survey is being prepared for display on this website.
Until 1940, a special census of irrigation enterprises was conducted by
the U.S. Bureau of Commerce, Bureau of the Census as part of the national census. After
World War II, a census of irrigation enterprises was conducted only periodically as part
of the Census of Agriculture. The last major census of irrigation enterprises was
conducted in 1978 (Volume 4, Irrigation, 1978 Census of Agriculture). The present Farm and
Ranch Irrigation Survey collects valuable information on irrigation, but not on irrigation
districts and canal companies.
All but one of the thirty-four enterprises participating in the IEMPS
survey were organized prior to 1910. All are very old and stable businesses. They
frequently employ more than a dozen people, both full and part-time. The following is a
brief summary of the survey.
Board of Directors and Election Procedures
Staffing
Office Management
Canal Management
Water Allocation
Conclusion
Download the Document
"Enterprise Governance & Management from our FTP site