BANKS, 86, OVERSAW STATE WATER PROJECT.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Harvey O. Banks, an internationally known water engineer who played a key role in developing the State Water Project, has died of leukemia at age 86. Banks died Sept. 22 in Austin, Texas, where he had lived in recent years. A former director of the California Department of Water Resources History 1850-1875 California recognizes many types of water rights. These rights have developed with the State over time. Prior to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848, California was part of Mexico. , Banks was perhaps best known for his efforts to get the State Water Project built. Banks worked to promote the legislation that created the gigantic system of dams, reservoirs and viaducts to transport Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern water to the San Joaquin Valley Noun 1. San Joaquin Valley - a vast valley in central California known for its rich farmland Calif., California, Golden State, CA - a state in the western United States on the Pacific; the 3rd largest state; known for earthquakes and Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . The water project's pumping plan at the south end of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is an expansive inland river delta and estuary in northern California in the United States. It is formed at the western edge of the Central Valley by the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and lies just east of where the - at the head of the 444-mile California Aqueduct - is named after Banks. He was appointed director of what was then a new agency, the Department of Water Resources, in 1956 by Republican Gov. Goodwin Knight. He was reappointed in 1958 by Knight's successor, Democratic Gov. Pat Brown. After leaving state service in 1961, he worked as a consulting engineer, helped Texas develop its water plan and served on the governing board of the Water Education Foundation, a Sacramento-based nonprofit group. After leaving Sacramento, he lived in Belmont for more than 25 years. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Mary Morgan Banks. He is survived by his second wife, Jean Ott Williams of Austin, and three sons from his first marriage, Robert, Philip and Kimball. Services were held in Austin. |
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