The Board inherited the responsibilities of the Witham General Drainage Commissioners, who were first constituted by an Act of Parliament of 1762.

The district is divided into a number of compartments, as it is intersected by embanked rivers which cross the area, carrying water from the Car Dyke, which acts as a catchwater drain at the western boundary, to the Witham on its eastern edge.

The Witham First District IDB maintains thirteen pumping stations and 165 miles (266 km) of drainage channels.

[2] The First District covered an area of 24,916 acres (10,083 ha), bounded on the north and east by the river, and on the south and west by the Car Dyke, an ancient navigation channel.

The Fifth District covered a much smaller area of 5,176 acres (2,095 ha) between Billinghay Skirth and Kyme Eau, the lower part of the River Slea.

Its area of responsibility was extended in 1968, when parts of fourteen parishes and the Urban District of Sleaford came under its jurisdiction, and the board was again restructured on 7 July 1993, to include representatives from local councils, as required by the Land Drainage Act 1991.

[5] The area managed by the First District IDB lies to the east of the Lincoln Edge, a limestone escarpment which is a prominent feature of Lincolnshire.

[5] Before the eighteenth century, the district was open common land, where those living in adjoining parishes had grazing rights.

Efforts to improve the Witham by straightening the channel, making it deeper, and constructing the Grand Sluice to the north of Boston did not prevent flooding.

The commissioners had responsibility for the district, but also powers to collect rates, to ensure that the drainage works could be built and maintained.

[7] For administrative purposes, the district was divided up into a number of sub-districts, based on parish boundaries and enclosure acts.

A series of Acts of Parliament, passed between 1779 and 1840 authorised improvements to these sub-districts,[3] and initial attempts to drain the land used wind-pumps.

"[7] The science of Fen drainage was not well understood when the first enclosure acts were passed, and it was thought that flooding might be worse if the embankments were placed too close to the river.

Consequently, the Dales Head Dyke was constructed, about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the west of the Witham, and the land between it and the river was used as washland, and was flooded for up to nine months each year.

The Witham Commissioners thought that the extra volume of water and the speed with which it would be pumped would damage the river banks, and sought an injunction to prevent the use of steam power.

[10] The Great Northern Railway Company, who owned the Witham at this time, argued that although the river was their responsibility, the bank was not, as it was not specifically mentioned in the 1812 Act.