My Interests in Water

Water resources has been a part of my personal journey that began years ago when I was a young boy with an inquisitive interest and love of water, fishing and playing in the creeks, ponds, lakes, and rivers.  Coming from a small Illinois town between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers near Mark Twain’s country, I began to see and appreciate at an early age the beauty, the useful power, and the extreme destructiveness that water can create.  Later on these beginning interests led me to study civil engineering in college having been influenced greatly by Paul Munger and the late Terry Harbaugh.  My graduate studies in water resources were greatly influenced by Jon Liebman, the late Ven Te Chow and the late Ben C. Yen.  Along this personal journey, I have been influenced and encouraged by so many wonderful people. 

My continued personal journey in teaching and performing research in water resources has been a very rewarding experience. Through out my personal journey in life this love of water has continued not only as my profession, but even in my spare time, being an avid snow skier, fly-fisherman, and scuba diver.  During the past ten years I have expanded my personal journey to the study of ancient water structures, especially those built by the Romans.  My career has afforded me many travel opportunities around the World.  I have taken advantage of those trips to Europe and Turkey to visit and photograph many aqueducts and other water structures built by the Romans.  Many of the photographs of these sites are located in this web site.

Career

Larry W. Mays has been a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Arizona State University since August 1989. He served as Chair of the Department from August 1989 until July 1996. Prior to that he was Director of the Center for Research in Water Resources and holder of an Engineering Foundation Endowed Professorship at The University of Texas at Austin, where he was on the faculty since 1976. Prior to that, he was a graduate research assistant and then a Visiting Research Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received the Ph.D. in January 1976. He received the B.S. (1970) and M.S. (1971) degrees in civil engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla, after which he served in the U.S. Army, (1970-1973) stationed at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California.

His primary professional activity as a professor, previously at the University of Texas and now at Arizona State University, has spanned over 27 years. Other professional activities have included serving as a consultant to various government agencies and industries and serving as an expert witness in several litigations concerning flooding and other water-related issues. He is a registered professional engineer in seven states, a registered professional hydrologist with the American Institute of Hydrology, a member of several professional associations, and is listed in several biographies including Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World.

Teaching

The primary function of a professor is to teach and part of the teaching is performing research with students. Classroom teaching has included both undergraduate and graduate courses in fluid mechanics, hydraulics, water resources design, surface-water hydrology, open-channel flow, groundwater hydrology, water resources planning and management, and water resources systems analysis. Mentoring of graduate students has also been a major focus in his career having supervised to completion 27 Ph.D. students and 27 M.S. students with theses and many other non-thesis master’s degree students.  Through the friendships that I have developed, each of these  graduate students have left a special place in my heart.

Research Interests and Philosophy

Larry’s research interests are in the application of simulation models, optimization methods and risk/reliability methods to the design, analysis, and operation of hydrosystems including water distribution systems, stormwater management systems, flood and sediment control of river-reservoir systems, estuarine systems, groundwater systems, and the planning and management of watersheds and river basins. He has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator on many research projects sponsored by federal, state, and local government agencies. These research projects have ranged from mathematical (computer) model development using optimization and probability analysis for urban drainage design, water energy systems, soil aquifer treatment systems, risk and reliability analysis of hydraulic structures, development of optimal flood forecasting systems, alluvial fans, to experimental hydraulic analysis of culverts.

I feel that research is a very important part of the education function of the University.  The unfortunate thing is that at many institutions the amount of external funding one receives is the primary measure of a professor’s research efforts and the quality of research has little or no bearing.  What’s even worse is the attitude that it’s not research unless it’s being externally funded.  Some of the best Ph.D. dissertations that I have supervised were not the result of externally funded efforts.

Publications and Books

Larry has published extensively in the water resources literature including over 85 refereed journal publications, 85 papers in proceedings of national and international conferences, 30 reports, and many book chapters including two chapters in the Handbook of Civil Engineering Practice.   After several years of teaching with what I considered somewhat inadequate textbooks and other materials for the water resources engineering classroom, I set out to develop my own books for the classroom and the profession.  I am still very heavily involved in this effort.  Each of my books have been dedicated to humanity and human welfare.

My books include: co-author of Applied Hydrology, by V. T. Chow, D. R. Maidment, and L. W. Mays, published by McGraw-Hill Company in February 1988; editor of the book Reliability Analysis of Water Distribution Systems published by the American Society of Civil Engineers in August 1989 of which he was author or co- author of 10 of the 14 chapters; co-author of Hydrosystems Engineering and Management, by L. W. Mays and Y. K. Tung, published by McGraw-Hill Book Company in 1992, and co-editor of the book Computer Modeling of Free-Surface and Pressurized Flow published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1994. He was author of Optimal Control of Hydrosystems published by Marcel-Dekker in 1997; editor-in-chief of the Water Resources Handbook published by McGraw-Hill in 1996; editor-in-chief of Hydraulic Design Handbook published by McGraw-Hill in 1999; editor-in-chief of Water Distribution Systems Handbook,  published by McGraw-Hill in 2000; editor-in-chief of Stormwater Collection Systems Handbook published by McGraw-Hill in 2001; author of Water Resources Engineering published by Wiley in 2000 with a new 2005 edition; and editor-in-chief of Urban Water Supply Handbook published by McGraw-Hill in 2002;  editor-in-chief of Water Supply Systems Security published by McGraw-Hill in 2004; the third edition of Groundwater Hydrology (with David K. Todd) published by Wiley in 2005; and editor-in-chief of Water Resources Systems Management Tools published by McGraw-Hill in 2005. The Urban Water Supply Handbook won the Honorable Mention Award in Engineering from the Association of American Publishers in 2002.  Presently he is working on a new book, Water Resources Sustainability to be published by McGraw-Hill.

Professional Memberships

Professional memberships include being a Fellow of the International Water Resources Association and a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, where he has been very active on committees in the Hydraulics Engineering Division and the Water Resources Planning and Management Division. He is also a member of the American Water Resources Association, the American Institute of Hydrology, the International Association of Hydraulic Research, the International Water History Association, the American Water Works Association, and a representative to the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR). He has served on the Board of Directors of UCOWR and also as President.

Greatest Honor

In 1999 he received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.