Langdon ‘Don’ Owen, 72; Pioneer of Southern California Water Industry

Langdon “Don” W. Owen, a pioneer of the Southern California water industry who represented Orange County on the Metropolitan Water District board, died Thursday at his home in Newport Coast. He was 72.

He had been ill in recent months, but the cause of death was not disclosed.

Owen began his career 50 years ago as a junior engineer with the state Department of Water Resources, where he supervised planning for the proposed Peripheral Canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta during construction of the State Water Project.

In 1963, he joined the Orange County Water District as district engineer, and eventually rose to the post of general manager. He later served from 1980 to 1998 as an elected board member of the district.

During the decade he managed the Orange County water agency, he devised and oversaw construction of Water Factory 21, an internationally known water treatment and groundwater recharge plant in Fountain Valley.

The facility, developed in the mid-1960s, protects groundwater from seawater intrusion through injections of highly treated reclaimed water mixed with deep-well water.

It has helped reduce the region’s dependence on the State Water Project and Colorado River supplies, and attracts more than 1,000 visitors a year from 30 countries.

“Don was an icon in the water industry and a visionary leader who was light-years ahead of his time,” said Virginia Grebbien, general manager of the Orange County Water District. She noted that Owen, an early proponent of ocean desalination, oversaw development in 1969 of a pilot plant in Orange County that used the process.

Owen left the Orange County Water District in 1973 to form his own consulting firm in Newport Beach. The company was involved in financing a variety of infrastructure facilities, including sewers and flood control systems and transportation.

He had served on the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s board of directors since 1996.

Owen is survived by his wife, Sandy; four sons; two stepdaughters; a stepson; and 12 grandchildren.

The family asks that memorial donations be sent to the Don Owen Water Science and Policy Fellowship at UC Irvine, c/o School of Social Ecology, 300 Social Ecology I, Irvine, CA 92697-7050.