Oral Histories

Interview of Harry F. Blaney

Irrigation engineer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. UCLA research associate in the Department of Irrigation Research and Soil Science.
Subtitle:
Harry F. Blaney: Water Conservation Engineer
Series:
Oral History of California Water Resources Development
Topic:
Urban Planning and Land Use
Water Resources
Biographical Note:
Irrigation engineer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. UCLA research associate in the Department of Irrigation Research and Soil Science.
Interviewer:
Schippers, Donald J.
Interviewee:
Blaney, Harry French, $d 1892-1976
Persons Present:
Blaney and Schippers.
Place Conducted:
Blaney's office in the Engineering Building at UCLA.
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
Interviewer Background and Preparation:
The interview was conducted by Donald J. Schippers, Interviewer-Editor, OralHistory Program, UCLA; B.A., American History, UCLA, M.A., American History, Occidental College.
Processing of Interview:
In 1965, a verbatim transcription of the tapes was made. Punctuation was introduced and syntax emended only slightly. On reviewing the transcript, in the interest of factual accuracy the interviewee made extensive changes, adding a great deal of new material and striking much of the original account. This manuscript, therefore, represents a careful and almost complete rewriting of the original transcription.
Length:
3 hrs.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Series Statement:
This series had its origin in a grant from the University of California Water resources Center in 1965. The project was a joint effort by the UCLA Oral History Program and the Regional Oral History Office, University of California, Berkeley. For some years after the close of the grant period, limited interviewing in this area continued.
Abstract:
Childhood in Los Angeles; horsecar rides to University of Southern California campus; attendance at Sixteenth Street Grammar School and Los Angeles Polytechnic High School; enters University of California, Berkeley, College of Engineering, 1911; trip north from San Pedro on steamship Hanale; dean of civil engineering, Charles Derleth, Jr., consultant on San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge; World Exposition, San Francisco, 1915; career with Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, 1917-62; research associate in Department of Irrigation and Soil Service, UCLA; studies of utilization and evaporation of water supply in Southwest; measurement of consumptive use factors in water utilization; development, with Wayne D. Criddle, of Blaney-Criddle consumptive use formula; studies undertaken for World Bank of water utilization in West Pakistan; further studies in Israel; evaluation of career; discussion of water problems facing western United States.