Catalogue description Records of Land Drainage and Flooding

Land Drainage and Water Supply Divisions, 1889-

In 1889 the Board of Agriculture inherited the powers formerly exercised by the Land Commissioners for England with respect to sea defence and land drainage works under the Land Drainage Act 1861. These were exercised by a Land Drainage Branch which was attached to various divisions. Later Acts were mainly concerned with defining the areas and powers of drainage authorities. The Land Drainage Act 1926 transferred certain powers of enforcement from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to county councils and county boroughs.

The Land Drainage Act 1930 consolidated all previous legislation, establishing for the first time a code of law relating to land drainage and making available increased financial resources to encourage the activities of drainage authorities. Responsibility for land drainage lay with the Commercial, Land Drainage and Rural Life Division. In 1935, it passed to the Land Drainage, Publicity and Rural Life Division, and in 1938 a separate Land Drainage Division was created. In 1944 this was enlarged to include water supply responsibilities, as the Land Drainage and Water Supply Division (enlarged again in 1959 as the Land Drainage, Water Supply and Machinery Division). Responsibility for machinery was lost in 1972, and in 1984 drainage once again became the responsibility of a Land Drainage Division. Divisional responsibility for land drainage and flood protection continued to change frequently, passing to the Flood Defence and Land Sales Division (1986), the Flood Defence Division (1989) and the Flood and Coastal Defence Division (1993).

The responsibilities of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in this field are to provide grants for the drainage of farm land and advice on drainage problems; to maintain oversight of the work of authorities responsible for drainage and sea defences, such as river boards and internal drainage boards and to make grants for certain of their improvement works.