In 1965, as a result of a growing recognition of the importance of the use and management of water resources, through Law No. 701, enacted on April 8, 1965, the State Secretariat of Hydraulic Resources was created, which involved the merger of the General Directorate of Irrigation of the Secretary of State for Agriculture, the National Irrigation Commission, force and control of rivers (CONAIF), the National Institute of Drinking Water (INAPA) and the National Service of Rural Aqueducts. This Secretariat was abolished shortly after, on April 8, 1965, when Act No. 701 was repealed, INAPA recovered its previous status and on September 8, Law No. 6 of 1965 was promulgated, which created the INDRHI. This is how INDRHI was born, as the maximum national authority on the surface and groundwater of the country,

In 1965, within the new institutional structure of the Government, the INDRHI was attached to the SEA, but with an autonomous and independent character. On October 15, 1969 through Law No. 487, INDRHI was also given control over the exploitation of groundwater, and it was consolidated as the highest national authority over the waters of the country.

In the year 2000, Law No. 64 on Environment and Natural Resources was promulgated, which created the State Secretariat for the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARN); in said Law it was established that the INDRHI will be attached to the new Secretary of State; In addition, it amended Law No. 6 for the creation of the INDRHI, as well as Law 487 - 1969, in relation to the control of the exploitation and conservation of groundwater, due to the fact that in said legal body it was established that the functions and attributions of the entity, related to groundwater, passed to the Secretariat of State for the Environment and Natural Resources.

Mission

Promote better living conditions and greater welfare of families and individuals in our nation, through the preservation and rational use of water resources, ensuring the availability of the resource in optimal quality, adequate quantities, and in a fair and timely manner, with emphasis in the water for the Irrigation Subsector.

View

That citizens have access to the use of water in a healthy and equitable manner, and have organized and efficient capacity to manage water resources in social and environmental harmony.

Functions

• Study, project and program all the hydraulic and energy works necessary for the integral development of the hydrographic basins of the Republic, subject to the national development plans and in coordination with the agencies in charge of the other types of development works.
• organize and manage the exploitation and conservation of national irrigation systems, with the intervention of users, in the terms indicated by the laws and the Ministry of Agriculture, for the purpose of coordinating agricultural production;
• Organize, direct and regulate the works of exploitation of national waters with the cooperation of the Industrial Development Corporation and the Dominican Electricity Corporation, when it is a matter of exploitation for the generation of electrical energy or industrial purposes; and with the National Institute of Drinking Water and Sewerage (INAPA) when it comes to use for aqueducts.
• Organize, direct and regulate the works of hydrology in basins, channels and alveoli of national waters, both superficial and underground, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Dominican Agrarian Institute, when it comes to irrigation;
• To intervene, with the approval of the Secretary of State for the Environment and Natural Resources, in the conservation of water currents, lakes and lagoons; in the protection of feeder basins and in the torrential correction works, with the cooperation of the Secretary of State for Agriculture and the Dominican Agrarian Institute;
• Carry out, in coordination with the Secretariat of State for the Environment and Natural Resources, the recognition and evaluation of the hydraulic resources of all the national basins;
• Realizar el reconocimiento y evaluación de los recursos hidráulicos de cuencas internacionales y ejecutar las obras hidráulicas que sean consecuencia de tratados internacionales en cooperación con el Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores;
• Realizar el estudio de suelos para fines de riego;
• Realizar los estudios geológicos relacionados con la existencia y el aprovechamiento de los recursos hidráulicos y con la construcción de obras relativas;
• Señalar al Poder Ejecutivo los casos en los cuales deberá proceder a expropiaciones por causa de utilidad pública, necesarias para la ejecución de sus programas, en conformidad con las leyes de expropiación;
• Coordinar las demás actividades que le fijen expresamente las leyes y reglamentos, y
• Coordinar las demás actividades que se relacionen con sus fines.