In the 1920s, the US Department of Agriculture developed the Bellvue Hydraulic Irrigation Laboratory as a field laboratory for research on irrigation technology. Here former Colorado Agricultural College professor Ralph Parshall carried out a series of experiments and eventually perfected a water-measuring device that would be used around the world. The flume that bears his name revolutionized irrigation practices by providing a simple, inexpensive, and efficient method to precisely measure the flow of water.