Water district icon Doyle Boen, 90, dies
EASTERN MUNICIPAL: Described as a visionary Mr. Boen had foreseen the area's water needs.
Doyle Boen, who deftly guided Eastern Municipal Water District through its formative years, died Friday at Claremont Manor in Claremont. He was 90.
The cause of death was complications of aging, said his daughter, Deanna Smith.
Mr. Boen's six-decade career is intertwined with the history of water development projects in California.
He was a visionary who anticipated the area's future water needs long before today's burgeoning population was a factor, said his nephew, Rob Lindquist, general manager of Lake Hemet Municipal Water District.
"He understood early on the need to upgrade what was essentially a gravity-fed system to a pressurized system in order to meet the needs of a growing service district," Lindquist said. "He had energy and zeal that you find in few people. He could take a project from inception to realization and stay pointed and directed, and he was totally dedicated to getting water to the valleys."
Born in Guthrie, Okla., Mr. Boen came to California when he was 2. He was introduced to the water business by his stepfather, an engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power who took him along on surveying projects.
After studying engineering at UCLA, Mr. Boen worked on the Colorado River Aqueduct and the Los Angeles Aqueduct extension near Mono Basin. He became Corona's first city manager-engineer in 1946.
In 1951, he was named general manager and chief engineer for the fledgling Eastern Municipal Water District. From his tiny office at the old headquarters in Hemet, Mr. Boen managed a water and sewer service system that relied on wells to serve 18,000 people.
With an eye on the future but with limited local finances, he joined the National Water Resources Association. After being appointed chairman of the small projects committee, he helped facilitate passage of the Small Reclamation Projects Act through Congress, leading to the eventual completion of more than 200 water projects in the western United States.
During Mr. Boen's tenure, Eastern Municipal's customer base steadily grew. By 1994, the district was serving some 350,000 people. Last year, the number had grown to 500,000, according to Betty Gibbel, EMWD public affairs officer.
Following his retirement from EMWD in 1981, Mr. Boen served 12 years on the Metropolitan Water District board, including five years as chairman of the engineering and operations committee. After living in Hemet 45 years, he moved to Claremont in 1997 to be near his family.
Mr. Boen was a charter member and past president of both the California Water Resources Association and the Southern California Water Conference. He was named Engineer of the Year by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1980, and has been recognized by both the Institute for Advancement of Engineering and the U.S. Department of the Interior. In 1994, he received La Vista's Humanitarian Award.
He is survived by two daughters, Smith of Claremont and Jan Davey of Upland; a son, Mark of Carmel; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at McWane Family Funeral Home in Hemet. Burial will be in San Jacinto Valley Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Water Resources Institute at Cal State San Bernardino.
Reach Phil French at (951) 763-3455 or pfrench@pe.com
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