The District is organized and operated pursuant to the Water Conservancy Act, Colorado Revised Statutes § 37-45-101, et seq.
The District was formed in the late 1940s to study reservior sites on the Rio Grande. The District selected the site for the Wagon Wheel Gap Dam and Reservoir. A group of farmers supported the idea and another group of farmers did not. The Colorado State Engineer did not support the Wagon Wheel Gap project but supported the State Line Reservoir Project. This went on through the 1950s without a decision and funding. The District languished until the 1980s.
Floyd Getz resigned from the Board of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District and began the process of rejuvenating and expanding the boundaries of the San Luis Valley Water Conservancy District. His original reason was to form a groundwater management district. This did not happen and in the 1970s the Colorado Division of Water Resources required that new domestic wells be augmented. The District took the necessary steps to provide augmentation water for in-house use, commercial and limited irrigation.