William Gianelli

William Gianelli was born in Stockton, California in February 1919.[3] He was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a B.S. in 1941.[4] He then served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers from 1941 to 1945, in the midst of World War II.[3] In this capacity, he was involved in building airfields, water supply facilities, and other construction projects at installations in Hawaii, Saipan, Okinawa, and Korea.[4] By the end of the war, he had attained the rank of Major.[4]

After the war, in January 1946, Gianelli took a job in the office of the State Engineer of California.[4] After ten years in that job, he left for the California Department of Water Resources, becoming staff engineer and special assistant to the director.[3] In 1959, he became district engineer for the CDWR's southern district.[3]

In 1960, Gianelli left government service and formed a consulting engineering firm, Gianelli & Murray.[3]

In January 1967, Governor of California Ronald Reagan appointed Gianelli as head of the California Department of Water Resources.[4] In that capacity, he oversaw the development of the California State Water Project.[4]

Gianelli again left government service in 1973, becoming a consulting engineer.[4] From 1973 to 1976, he served on the National Commission on Water Quality appointed by President of the United States Richard Nixon and chaired by Nelson Rockefeller.[3]

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated Gianelli as Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), and, after Senate Confirmation, he held this office from April 1981 until May 1984.[3] He was chairman of the Panama Canal Commission, the last four years under special Congressional Authorization.[5]

Gianelli continued to work as a consultant after leaving government service in 1984.[5] In 1997, he joined Dawson & Associates as an advisor on environmental permitting. He served there for more than a decade.

Gianelli was president of the Water Education Foundation, based in Sacramento, Calif., from 1985-1989. He made a major financial donation that helped the Foundation create an educational program for young professionals, which is named the William R. “Bill” Gianelli Water Leaders Class.

• William R. Gianelli : The California State Department of Water Resources, 1967-1973 / an interview conducted by Malca Chall in 1985. Berkeley, Calif. : Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft Library, University of California, 1986