Uttarakhand Irrigation Department is responsible to plan, construct and maintain Water Resources and Hydroelectric Projects in the state of Uttarakhand. Irrigation Research Institute (IRI) was established to carry out Research and Development work under the aegis of the U. P. Irrigation Department in the year 1928 as a small research unit in Lucknow.

Mr. Gerald Lacey, the profounder of famous regime theory was the first Research Officer. The success of this small unit was duly acknowledged and in 1945 activities were expanded. The expanded unit was shifted to Bahadrabad (Roorkee) in 1946, where abundance of experimental facilities were available. The research unit at Roorkee rose to a full fledged Institute in 1954. The Institute gradually developed into a pioneer research station and is now engaged in Research and Development activities for almost all multipurpose river valley projects in Northern India.