In 1988 the Contra Costa Water District investigated implementing Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) and potential applications. One of the initial applications identified was mapping of the Contra Costa Canal right-of-way (ROW) and linking a facilities inventory, the ROW uses and ROW users to these maps, i.e. to create the Canal Mapping System (System). Three primary activities were involved in the project. The first was obtaining funds from the District's Board of Directors to implement the System. The second phase was to generate a current topographic map of the Canal ROW and surrounding surface features in a digital format. The last phase is to create the database necessary to identify key information about the Canal and ROW and to link these databases to the digital maps, thereby creating an Automated Mapping/Facility Mapping (AM/FM) project for the Canal.