Julian B. Hinds (1881-1977) was Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s general manager and chief engineer from 1941-1951, but began work on the Colorado River Aqueduct in 1929 soon after the district was organized.

“From that time until his retirement on December 31, 1951, his engineering genius was successively dedicated to the conception, design, construction and management of this unprecedented aqueduct project, extending hundreds of miles from the Colorado River to the coastal plain of Southern California,” according to an excerpt from a district resolution. The western-most of the five pumping plants along the Colorado River Aqueduct was renamed the Julian Hinds Pumping Plant in his honor.