Thomas H. Means papers, bulk 1905-1958

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Thomas H. Means papers

Summary

Creators:
Means, Thomas H. (Thomas Herbert), 1875-1965
Abstract:
The collection consists of correspondence and reports concerning the Colorado River and flooding in the Imperial Valley, the Hetch Hetchy Project, Los Angeles water supply, the Southern Sierra Power Company, the salinity of San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, flood control and irrigation projects, groundwater, and land appraisal throughout California and other western states.
Extent:
5.98 linear feet (15 boxes)
Language:
The collection is in English .
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [date if possible]. Thomas H. Means papers (WRCA 056). Water Resources Collections and Archives. Special Collections & University Archives, University of California, Riverside.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of correspondence and reports concerning the Colorado River and flooding in the Imperial Valley, the Hetch Hetchy Project, Los Angeles water supply, the Southern Sierra Power Company, the salinity of San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, flood control and irrigation projects, groundwater, and land appraisal throughout California and other western states.

Biographical / historical:

Thomas Herbert Means was born in 1875 in Virginia. His early career included nine years in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Soils, during which time he was in charge of soil surveys, principally in the western states. In 1898 he made a report on reclamation of alkali soils in Yellowstone. He also studied dry land soils and moisture content under different methods of farming at Glen Ullin and Fargo, North Dakota. In 1902, he visited North Africa, Algeria, Tunis and Egypt to study soils and irrigation. After that he served six years in the Bureau of Reclamation in land examination and farm unit subdivision and was in charge of a laboratory for the study of the silt-carrying capacities of western streams.

In 1910, Means went into private consulting practice in San Francisco, California, specializing in engineering connected with agriculture, irrigation, drainage, reclamation and water supply. At various times he was employed by the State of California to work on the Central Valley Project, by the City of San Francisco on the Hetch Hetchy Project-he played a key role in the court battles that led to water rights for the city-and as a consulting engineer for Orange County Flood Control District. He was also employed by the State of Montana Water Conservation Board on litigation on the Missouri River, and served as an expert witness in several lawsuits over waters in the western states.

Means died in November 1965 in Berkeley, California.

Acquisition information:
Provenance unknown.
Processing information:

Processed by Water Resources Collections and Archives staff, 1999.

Collection number updated February 2019. Legacy collection number was MEANS. This change was part of a project in 2018/2019 to update the collection numbers for collections in the Water Resources Collections and Archives.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged topically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the University of California, Riverside Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives. Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. To the extent other restrictions apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable rights holder is also required. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [date if possible]. Thomas H. Means papers (WRCA 056). Water Resources Collections and Archives. Special Collections & University Archives, University of California, Riverside.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Riverside - Special Collections and University Archives
PO Box 5900
Riverside, CA 92517-5900, US
Contact:
(951) 827-3233
specialcollections@ucr.edu
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