In the middle of the 19th century, as part of their governance of the Punjab region, the British surveyed existing property rights in Kangra District (now an administrative unit in Himachal Pradesh). The British included in this survey the recording of irrigation rights. This research explores the relationships between these British-recorded irrigation rights and the contemporary organization and operations of a local irrigation network (kuhl). Also explored are two examples of involvement by the state irrigation agency in attempts to improve these local irrigation systems. The research concludes that the irrigation rights documented in the British era provide much of the social glue required for operating and sustaining these small hydraulic works. The irrigation agency's attention to these important irrigation rights influences its success in providing assistance to the traditional kuhls.