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Inventory of the Bernard A. Etcheverry Papers, 1903-1954
ETCH
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Table of contents
Title: Bernard A. Etcheverry Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1903-1954
Collection number: ETCH
Creator:
Etcheverry, Bernard Alfred, 1881-1954
Extent: ca. 20 linear ft. (44 boxes)
Repository:
Water Resources Collections and Archives
Riverside, CA 92517-5900
Shelf location: This collection is stored off-campus at NRLF. Please contact the Water Resources Collections and Archives staff for access
to the materials.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Water Resources Collections and Archives. All requests for
permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head
of Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Water Resources Collections and Archives as the owner of
the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
[Identification of item], Bernard A. Etcheverry Papers, ETCH, Water Resources Collections and Archives, University of California,
Riverside.
Central Valley Project (Calif.)
Water resources development --California
Water resources development --Oregon
Irrigation --California
Canals --California
Flood control --California
Water-supply --California
Drainage --California
Water districts --California
Reservoirs --California
Rivers --California
Water rights --California
Overhead electric lines --California --Right of way
Right of way --California
Means, Thomas H. (Thomas Herbert), b. 1875
Herrmann, Frederick Charles
Bernard Alfred Etcheverry served the University of California, Riverside, continuously for
forty-six years and for a total of forty-seven years. His first appointment was as
Instructor in Civil Engineering, held during the academic year 1902-1903. After two years
as Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Physics at the University of Nevada, he
returned to Berkeley in 1905 to serve successively as Assistant Professor, Associate
Professor, and Professor of Irrigation and Drainage until his retirement in 1951.
Throughout that time he acted first as Chairman of the Department, later the Division of
Irrigation.
Professor Etcheverry was born in San Diego, California on June 30, 1881; completed his
high school work at Lycée de Bayonne, Académie de Bordeaux; and was graduated at the
University of California, Riverside, in 1902 as University Medalist, with a B.S. degree in
civil engineering. He was married to Helen Hanson on August 6, 1903, at Berkeley. He had
two sons, Bernard Earle Etcheverry and Alfred Starr Etcheverry. He died on October 26,
1954, in New Haven, Connecticut.
Etcheverry was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American
Geophysical Union. At various times he served on numerous committees of the ASCE, and was
President of its San Francisco Section in 1926, and a National Director of the Society
during 1934-1937.
Professor Etcheverry was engineer on the construction of the Greek Theatre. During the
early years of his teaching, his summers were spent on irrigation problems in western
Canada and on an investigation on the use of concrete in irrigation systems. This latter
work was performed in behalf of the Irrigation Investigations of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. In 1912 he had begun the preparation of his three-volume treatise,
Irrigation Practice and Engineering. These were published during the years
1915-1917. They became, and have remained through forty years, standard treatments of the
subjects covered. He thus gained recognition, both at home and abroad, as the leading
author in this field. He was also author of
Land Drainage and Flood Protection,first published in 1931.
Etcheverry was continuously active in professional practice. From 1912 to 1917 he made
investigations for the city of San Francisco of the uses of water from the Tuolumne
River. In 1915 he was a member of the Board of Review for several projects of the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation, passing on repayments under these projects. He was consulting
engineer for the State Reclamation Board from its organization in 1913 until his death,
advising the Board on the many engineering and policy matters arising out of its
supervision of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Drainage District. For several years he was a
member of the Board of Appraisers assessing benefits resulting from the projects of the
State Reclamation Board. As the leading witness for the Board in litigation relating to
those assessments, he successfully defended both the methods used (largely developed by
him) and their results. In later years he served as one of the consulting appraisers for
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in its acquirement of lands and water rights for the
Central Valley Project.
He was a member of the consulting board which was appointed by the State Engineer to
assist in the preparation of the State Water Plan adopted by the legislature in 1931, and
continued to serve as a general consultant for the State Engineer on numerous special
assignments. In 1945, at the time of its organization, he was appointed by Governor
Warren a member of the State Water Resources Board, and was its Vice-Chairman at the time
of this death.
Professor Etcheverry acted as consulting engineer for many other public and private
organizations during the course of his long career. These included a report on the water
needs of Kern County made for that county. He was consulting engineer for the Kern County
Land Company on its plans for water development and consulting engineer for the Kern
River Water Storage District. He was a member of the board to review the appraisal of the
properties proposed to be acquired by the San Joaquin River Water Storage District. Other
clients included the Madera Irrigation District and several of the reclamation districts
in the Sacramento Valley. He was consulting engineer for the Pacific Gas and Electric
Company in litigation over water rights of the Pit River, for the California-Oregon Power
Company in matters involving Klamath Lake, and for the city of San Francisco in its early
litigation with the Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts. He was an expert witness
for the Lindsay-Strathmore Irrigation District in litigation over water rights on Kaweah
River.
Etcheverry has long been regarded as the "Father of Irrigation Engineering."
Excerpted from
In Memoriam, by S. T. Harding, F. L. Hotes, and C. G. Hyde.
Correspondence, reports, hydrological data, maps and memoranda pertaining to reservoirs,
canals, water delivery systems, flood control and irrigation projects, water supply and
land appraisals throughout California and southern Oregon, with particular reference to
units of the Central Valley Project.
Collection also described in
Water Resources Reports and Data in the Bernard A.
Etcheverry Collection,
compiled by Morrill G. Folsom and Wilma J. Woodward.
(Water Resources Collections and Archives, University of California, Riverside, 1958). Gift of Mrs.
Etcheverry, 1957.