OCWD Online - Press Release: 01.13.99

H. GEORGE OSBORNE, ORANGE COUNTY WATER DISTRICT BOARD MEMBER AND WATER INDUSTRY LEADER, PASSES AWAY AT AGE 83

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. — The Orange County Water District (OCWD) announced today that Herbert George Osborne, member of the OCWD Board of Directors, passed away the evening of Jan. 12. Osborne was 83.

Osborne served as a member of OCWD’s Board of Directors since 1988 and served as board president in 1996/1997. He represented District 10 – the city of Fullerton.

"George Osborne was an incredible resource to our District and to the water community," said William R. Mills Jr., General Manager of the Orange County Water District. "His extensive involvement in the development of Orange County during its most rapid years of development provided us with insights into the historical events that shaped the many existing agreements and relationships that affect our activities. We have lost a part of our history."

Born in Penticton, British Columbia, on Dec. 7, 1915, Osborne grew up in Fullerton, Calif. He graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 1942 with a bachelor’s degree in Civil and Mechanical Engineering. Osborne also attended Harvard and Cornell universities to study naval science and diesel engineering, respectively.

Osborne served in the Navy during World War II, retiring in rank of Commander in 1946.

Osborne began his work in the water field in 1947, when he became water supply engineer for the Southern California Water Company. From 1950 to 1974, he worked with the Orange County Flood Control District.

In 1973 and 1974, Osborne served as Interim Planning Director for the County of Orange. Also in 1974, Osborne was appointed the first director of the newly founded Orange County Environmental Management Agency, which consolidated a number of county agencies and departments. Osborne retired from the county in 1980, at which time he became a project manager and consultant for the Warmington Group. From 1981 to 1984, he served as executive director of the Santa Ana River Flood Protection Agency.

Osborne has been a member—as well as chairman—of numerous committees and commissions, including the Orange County Planning Commission, Orange County Solid Waste Advisory Commission, Multimodal Transportation Committee, State Water Quality Advisory Committee, State Water Quality Control Board and Development Processing Review Committee.

In 1993, the County of Orange honored Osborne by dedicating its public facilities building in Santa Ana as the H. George Osborne Building.

Osborne is survived by his wife Dorothy; his daughter, Georgia Stone; six grandchildren; and sisters Marion Findley and Dorothy Cole.

Visitation will be held from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 15 at McAulay & Wallace, 902 N. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 16, at First United Methodist Church, also in Fullerton. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Association of the California Institute of Technology.

The Orange County Water District is a special water agency created by the California Legislature in l933 to maintain and manage the huge groundwater basin under northern Orange County. The groundwater basin managed by OCWD supplies 75% of the water needs to more than 2 million residents in the cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington and Newport Beach, Irvine, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Orange, Placentia, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster and Yorba Linda.