New Orleans drainage was historically the responsibility of property owners; but with constant flooding and outbreaks of yellow fever, the city government began intervening in drainage management as early as 1835. The City contracted with the New Orleans Drainage Company to implement a drainage solution and employ the use of steam pumps. The company went bankrupt soon after, triggering a full shift to municipal management of the City's drainage system.

From 1860-1890 there appears to have been a complicated back and forth of drainage responsibility from the city, state, and private companies hired. State Acts created three drainage districts in the city and appointed drainage commissioners for each, yet powers were summarily taken away and reinstated several times. The state treasurey collected taxes to be used for the drainage of New Orleans, and several additional companies were hired to assist including City Water Works and the New Orleans Waterworks Company.

It soon became clear that the municipal government needed to take control of drainage. With the help of City Engineers and the creation of the Drainage Advisory Board, New Olreans government took full control of the city's drainage in the 1890s. Over the next several years, New Orleans underwent a massive transformation utilizing the natural topography of the City to solve the drainage problem. This meant the creation of a complex system of street gutters that fed into underground drainage pipes that fed into canals that moved water out of the city with the assistance of pumps. In 1899, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans was charged with the execution of the City's new drainage plan, and by 1903, the Drianage Advisory Board merged with the Sewerage and Water Board to unify operation of the City's drainage, water, and sewerage program.