Professor John L. Merriam, PE

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Professor John L. Merriam, PE

Organization Memberships and Activities

Creative Contributions and Concepts

Professional Career

In the very early months of my starting to work for the Soil Conservation Service in 1939, I was initiated into irrigation and system evaluations by Dell Shockley, Alan McCullogh, and Wayne Criddle. The SCS program and work established the emphasis of my subsequent career. Being stationed at various places in the irrigated areas of Southern California, and ultimately responsible for the engineering program stressing water management for San Bernardino, Riverside, and part of the time for Imperial and San Diego counties, I had a great incentive and opportunity to learn, to develop concepts, and to apply irrigation knowledge. This continued until I left the SCS in 1956, a period of about seventeen years of down-to-the-earth experience.

My departure involved input from two men important in my career and a coincident. Harry Blaney, an important irrigation researcher with whom I frequently had contact, recommended me for a foreign job with The Ralph M. Parsons Co. in Saudi Arabia in irrigation and water supply. That started the foreign aspect of my career, which has totaled over nine years abroad.

The second man was John Barnes, State Conservationist for the SCS. When I was leaving he said to me, "I don't want you to come back to the SCS," and then paused, "I want you to teach at Cal Poly since we get many of our new employees from there." The coincidence was that upon completion of my two years in Saudi Arabia, there was an opening in the soil and water curriculum at Cal Poly which I could fill. For the next twenty years, until 1978, I was a professor.

Since "retirement" I have intermittently spent a number of years abroad, principally establishing pilot projects in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, and Egypt. These have all involved demonstrating the value of a very flexible farmer controlled irrigation supply with an automated distribution system involving reservoir storage, level top canals and pipelines-- things that I learned from my close contact with farmers in the USA. These projects were planned for and partially operated under farmer control to eliminate the irrigation water restraints on the farmer. They have permitted agricultural production to be increased 20% to 40%, conserved water, eliminated inter-personnel farmer conflict between top-enders and low-enders, reduced labor, and upgraded the social welfare of the farmers.

There has often been reluctance by the upper level officials to extend the program project-wide. This was due to a lack of confidence that the main canals can be adequately converted to variable flow through automation--though that is being successfully done in many places often involving the use of local service area reservoirs-- and that the farmers would be capable of operating the system.

To supplement these activities has involved much educating, writing, developing up-graded techniques in surface irrigation, evaluation procedures, precise terminology, etc emphasizing the need for a water source at the farm level flexible in frequency, rate and duration to permit the farmer to optimize his total farm management program. I have personally experienced this need as owner, developer, and operator of two farms and working directly with farmers through the Soil Conservation Service.

This has been my career for over sixty years.

Work Experience Summary

General Employment

1931-37 Summers and intermittently, draftsman and chainman, San Bernardino Co. Surveyor's Office.

1938-39 USED Los Angeles River Flood Control, private engineers, structural designer.

1939-56 USDA, Soil Conservation Service in Southern California, the last seven years as supervising Area Engineer in San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial and San Diego counties. Work was concerned with soil and water conservation, irrigation, drainage, flood control, ground water, and personnel training with emphasis on on-farm irrigation. As the result of this training, the Redlands-Highlands Soil Conservation District developed a program and was given a national award for conserving irrigation water.

1956-58 The Ralph M. Parsons Co. in Saudi Arabia as Senior Irrigation Engineer. Work was concerned with reconnaissance studies of irrigation, drainage, and surface and ground water supply projects.

1958-78 California Polytechnic State University, BioResource and Agricultural Engineering Department. Professor. Expanded and developed the soil and water curriculum to include a drainage class, three irrigation classes for engineers and two for non-engineers, and the supporting classes in hydraulics, hydrology and soil conservation. Spent 1969-70 in Thailand with the University setting up irrigation teacher training programs at the eleven agricultural colleges in Thailand. Sabbatical leave in spring 1975 in France and North Africa studying the use of the Neyrtec float controlled gates for automatic canal regulation.
1978 Professor Emeritus, "retirement."

Private Consulting (Pre-Retirement 1947-78)

Private Consulting Engineer. (Registered Engineer, California. RCE #6979, 1947, PE AE #287, 1977) Designed and built three farm dams large enough to be under the jurisdiction of the California Division of Safety of Dams, one of which has been enlarged to store 900 ac. ft. As consultant to the Riverside County Flood Control District in 1952 was responsible for the project concept and the preliminary design for eleven dams and channels to protect the City of Riverside. A majority of these have been built. Several foreign jobs and consultancies (see foreign list). Numerous small structural, surveying, and water and flood related jobs.

Private Consulting (Post Retirement 1978 to date)

Work, in addition to several small local jobs, has been largely in foreign countries in encouraging the adoption of flexible irrigation supplies and farmer participation. (See following foreign list) I have had an annually renewed contract as a Consultant at no salary with the Cal Poly College of Agriculture, BioResource and Agricultural Engineering Department.

1993-95. Working with the Gila River Indian Community, Department of Land and Water Resources in training personnel and guiding the design for a 2,500 acre Pilot Project. Its purpose was to demonstrate a flexible supply and distribution system and obtain benefit/cost values. It has not yet been implemented. The concept will be extended in stages to rehabilitate about 150,000 acres.

Foreign Work (Totaling +8 years intermittently)

1956-58 The Ralph M. Parson Co., Saudi Arabia, on water supply projects.

1962 The Ralph M. Parsons Co., Water supply and irrigation project at Siwa Oasis, Egypt.

1966 Nicaragua government development bank INFONAC. Reviewing irrigation projects, and later assisting in a law suit over an inadequate sprinkler irrigation project.

1969 FAO in Saudi Arabia. Planning for an irrigation training school (not established).

1969-70 Cal Poly State University in Thailand. Setting up an irrigation training program at eleven agricultural colleges.

1971 U.S. Peace Corp in Thailand. Training Peace Corp volunteers in irrigation and soil conservation.

1975 ECI (US AID) in Tunisia. Planning an irrigation project on the Medjerdah River using sprinkler and surface irrigation methods adapted to crops and topography. Plan was superseded by a government-imposed sprinkler system on square fields regardless of topography and erosion pattern and saline water, that when applied to crop leaves by sprinkler kills the crop.

1978 Mexicali, Mexico. A short training session with extension irrigationists on surface irrigation and water management.

1978-85 Mahaweli Development Board (World Bank), Sri Lanka. This Demand Schedule Concrete Pipeline Pilot Project was designed by me with help from an expatriate engineer who was a former student. It was built under his supervision. The effort to involve local engineers was not successful. The 150 ha. Pilot Project provides a farmer controlled flexible supply. It utilizes semi-closed low pressure float controlled concrete pipelines, a service area reservoir, level top canals with a Neyrtec AVIO float controlled constant downstream gate, individual farmer operated outlet valves on a limited rate demand schedule. It was operated and evaluated for six crop seasons with only intermittently good cooperation from the water supply canal operators. Farmer cooperation and acceptance was enthusiastic. Yields increased 20%, labor was reduced and made convenient, and the top ender-low ender problem was eliminated. However, at the termination of the project, operation reverted back to the agricultural agency and use of a rotation schedule was reinstated. The lack of in-country engineering and operators and a well-organized farmer group to provide continuity was obvious.

As far as I have heard, this is the first such project ever established in South Asia. It is in 1999-2000, being fully reactivated and extended by about 500 acres under my guidance and local engineering application with World Bank and local farmer support.

1982 Katholieke Universiteit, Center for Irrigation Engineering, Leuven, Belguim. Taught the irrigation engineering class in the first year of the Center's program.

1982 Alberta, Canada. Reviewed the program of the Irrigation Department to involve more flexible farm water deliveries and automated supplies.

1987 Grenoble, France. Spent a day following up on previous conversations with SOGREAH, reviewing a project in Africa to upgrade the capacity and flexibility of the proposed system. Two months later they called me to say, "You probably will be disappointed, we only doubled system capacity."

1988-92 ISPAN (US AID), Madhya Pradesh, India. Designed (with a personally trained cadre of engineers) a 1000 ha flexible delivery Pilot project. It involves its own supply tank, sloping canal, regulating reservoirs, 63.7 km low pressure concrete pipe, level top canal and Neyrtec AVIO gate, 101 Harris Float valves, and 550 farmer controlled outlet valves. It will operate under a limited rate arranged schedule. A Water Users Association was organized under supervision of a trained sociologist. However due to the transfer of trained personnel, lack of follow-up education and maintenance funds, broken valves were not repaired and the pipeline system was not operated to its potential. However, it was the only project in a group of 46 US AID support projects that was, due to the pipelines, able to deliver water to all of it's farmers. In 1999-2000 under my supervision it is being rehabilitated, a new water Users Association formed, and engineers and farmers are being trained to maximize the systems' potential.

1989 Harza Engr. (World Bank), Pakistan. Planned, supervised construction and initiated operation near Mardan of a 60 acre part of a 300 acre Pilot project. It is called a "Farmer Operated Variable Supply Irrigation Project." It involves a level top canal with its intake supply automatically matching the demand outtake, and a closed low pressure concrete pipe distribution system with individually controlled farm outlet valves. It operates on a limited rate arranged schedule. Enthusiasm for the concept was high among the engineers, extension people, and the farmers. Five days after discussing the concept, construction was started, and four weeks later water was run. Adjacent farmers are requesting similar installations. Yields were increased about 40%, and labor was reduced and made more convenient. The top ender-low ender problem was eliminated and farmers are willing to pay a much higher land rent to be within the project.

There is concern and resistance at the top level because of the effect on canal operation. This must be overcome based on the great economic and social values demonstrated on the farm level. Service area reservoirs on branch and lateral canals can stabilize canal flow. However, they have not yet been incorporated to permit the extension of the use of the concept. This small project has operated very successfully with good government oversight and farmer cooperation. The project was revisited in 1992 and 1996.

1990 GTZ, Eschborn, Germany. Assisted at a technical workshop for the German international irrigation program introducing the use of a flexible supply, low pressure semi-closed pipelines, level top canals, reservoirs, automation, and the economic and social values of flexibility.

1990 Louis Berger Intl., Irrigation Improvement Project, Egypt. Set up a teaching and training program for US and Egyptian engineers to convert and upgrade the planned pump pipeline pilot projects from a rotation schedule to a limited rate arranged schedule. Use will be made of larger pipe sizes or level top canals. Reservoirs or operational spillage will be utilized to permit large variable flow rates. This project was revisited in 1993. The farmers were gratefully operating with increased capacity and flexible scheduling, and yields were appreciably increased. In 1996 the project was again revisited. The concept of a service area reservoir was accepted, plans were drawn, and the right-of-way was agreed to. However, Islamic militants took over the area so construction was not done.

1996 Pehur High Level Canal Consultants, (a European consortion), Topi Irrigation Area, Pehur High Level Canal Project, Pakistan. Served as consultant for planning the 11,000 acre Topi High Priority Area flexible supply project. The semi-closed pipeline laterals will be flexibly served directly from the very large Pehur canal without use of reservoirs. The flexible distribution lines to the farms will be installed later as a second stage. The project is under construction.

1998-2000 India, Work trips were made to the 1988 India (Gadigaltar) project to rejuvenate the project which, due to the lack of maintenance and follow-up, had failed to attain its optimum operation. This subsequent work was done with the support of the Merriam Irrigation Education Foundation (MIEF) and the Fund For Furthering Flexible Irrigation (4FI) and is ongoing.

1999-2000 Sri Lanka. The 1978-85 project is being rejuvenated, in conjunction with others, with ongoing supervision through the MIEF and the 4FI. The project is being added to with 500 more acres of pipeline and a new 1100 ha. project is being studied for application of the flexible supply concept.

Organization Memberships and Activities

American Association of Engineers. San Bernardino-Riverside County Chapter, Member 1943-1956: President 1950-51.

American Geophysical Union. 1946 to 1990 (Life Member). Contributed one paper on rainfall frequency, 1950.

American Society of Agricultural Engineers. 1956 to date. Member, Senior Member, Life Member. Active in three technical committees: Water Management; Water Supply and Conveyance; and especially since 1970 in the Surface Irrigation Committee. I have served on two task committees and several sub?committees, and as a member of the national membership qualifications committee. I have presented many papers at summer meetings. I made two oral presentations at section meetings plus two printed in the Transactions. (See list of papers) I have made contributions in two sections of the ASAE monograph, "Design and Operation of Irrigation Systems" and with John Replogle, contributed in the ASAE Second National Irrigation Symposium, 1980, a paper which contained the first published tabulation of the current water scheduling terminology. Funded the ASAE Award for the Advancement of Surface Irrigation and the Soil and Water Student Scholarship Award.

California Irrigation Institute. 1962 to date. Member of the Board of Directors 1964 to 1986. President 1967-68. Selected as the first "Irrigationist of the Year, 1979. Have presented eight programs and written five papers for distribution (see list of papers) several of which were later expanded and presented as ASAE or ASCE papers concerned with surface irrigation methods, flexible water supply, and irrigation scheduling.

United States Committee on Irrigation and Drainage. 1965 to date. Active as a member attending technical conferences. Have made eleven paper presentations, six of them co-authored with former students. Four have been published in ICID Congress proceedings. Funded the USCID Merriam Improved Irrigation Award.

International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage. Attended the 1981 (XI) Congress in Grenoble. A proposed paper was held up too late for publication by my co-authors in Sri Lanka, so I showed slides and made a short oral presentation. Subsequently I was granted use of a room to hold a meeting with over 50 attendees to discuss the Sri Lanka Demand Schedule Automated Concrete Pipeline Pilot Project.

Attended the 1987 (XIII) Congress in Casablanca. Presented a paper on the flexible automated Sri Lanka Pilot Project co-authored by my engineering and administrative contacts in the government. Initiated a special session to discuss and distribute the ASCE IDD Symposium Proc. Planning, Operation, Rehabilitation, and Automation of Irrigation Water Delivery Systems, 1987 Specialty Conference on flexible water supply.

Attended the 1990 (XIV) Congress in Rio de Janeiro. Presented two papers about flexible automated systems in California and in Sri Lanka. Both were co?authored with former students.

Attended the 1993 (XV) Congress at The Hague. Presented a paper about the use of pilot projects to facilitate the introduction of flexible irrigation systems. Organized a special session on worldwide introduction of flexible supply systems.

Attended the 1996 (XVI) Congress in Cairo. Presented a Poster Session on Flexible Irrigation Supply Systems and presented a Special Session on this subject.

I serve on several committees.

American Society of Civil Engineers

The ASCE has been the center of my technical activities. I was a student member 1936-38 at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. In 1943 I rejoined as a Junior Member, became an Associate Member in 1947, a member about 1960, a Fellow in 1967 and a Life Member in 1976.

Branch Activities

I served as vice president of the student branch in 1937-38.

I was active in forming the San Bernardino-Riverside County Branch of the Los Angeles Section. When Branch formation was started, I was President of the local chapter of the American Association of Engineers, a majority of the members of which were civil engineers. With the organization of the Branch in 1954, I became Secretary and in succeeding years, Vice-President and President. Later when I moved to San Luis Obispo, I cooperated in the reactivation of the local Branch in 1960 and later served as a Vice-President and on the local qualifications committee, 1967-69.

Technical Activities

I have been active in several technical committees: On-Farm; Water Conveyance and Distribution; Design, Operation and Maintenance of Irrigation and Drainage Systems; and Publication committees, and in two divisions: Irrigation and Drainage, (now Water Resource Engineering) and the Water Resources Planning and Management.

Activities in the Water Resources Engineering Division

On-Farm Irrigation Committee

In 1971, was an original Control member with Gordon Kruse and Jack Keller who was chairman. Served as Secretary for several years and was chairman 1978 to 1981. Have subsequently continued as a corresponding member.

Initiated sub-committees to define irrigation terms and efficiency terms and served as chairman of the Task Committee that developed in 1973 a paper entitled "Describing Irrigation Efficiency and Uniformity" which was later published in the March 1978 Journal.

Initiated and chaired a Task Committee on "Selection of Irrigation Methods." The T.C. was subsequently chaired by Ron Bliesner and then by A. W. Blair, and finally by Dr. Charles Burt. It was published as a separate handbook in 1999.

Initiated and chaired a T.C. that resulted in a paper presented by the Committee at the 1984 Conference entitled "Recommended Irrigation Schedule Terminology." The predecessor of this Terminology concept was a paper presented at the California Irrigation Institute meeting in 1968. It was refined in cooperation with John Replogle in the 1980 ASAE Proceedings of the Second National Irrigation Symposium. It was further developed in five papers in a chapter "Delivery System Scheduling" in the 1987 ASCE Conference Symposium. A T.C. was also initiated for general on-farm irrigation terminology. After many years of work, it expired because the job was too big.

I have attended most summer conferences, and served as a session moderator and presented several papers. I suggested that the long-term committee objective include as number one, "Bring awareness of the on?farm irrigation needs to the larger civil engineering profession which does the design of irrigation projects in a conventional way without adequate knowledge of on-farm conditions." This has been my own personal objective for a great many years in engineering, teaching, consulting, and Society activities.

Water Conveyance and Distribution Committee

In 1979 I also became active in this committee because it was a key group in furthering the above On-Farm Committee objective, and because of my interest in a T.C. being set up on "Pipelines in Irrigation and Drainage." I had a special interest in this subject since I had obtained a patent in 1948 when I was working for the Soil Conservation Service to facilitate laying pipelines on a curve of any radius from standard section pipes. At that time I was doing many irrigation layouts for contour orchards and working with water companies to improve deliveries. I had also become aware of the newly developed Harris float valve. The use of it created a new classification of pipelines, semi-closed, which was now available in addition to the open and the closed pipeline classes. This permitted downstream control in a pipeline operating at a stable low pressure, with less expensive pipe and a stable turnout pressure.

I was elected secretary of this committee 1983-85, and chaired a T.C. for the "Automation of Canals and Structures." The theme of the 1984 Conference was "Integration of Project Supplies with On?Farm Needs."

At the 1984 meeting I encouraged the enlargement of the T.C. by inviting representation from three other committees: Operation and Maintenance, Project Formulation, and On-Farm. This enlarged committee chaired by Darell Zimbelman on which I was control member from the On?Farm Committee, held a Symposium in conjunction with the 1987 summer conference. This resulted in the Symposium Proceedings, "Planning, Operation, Rehabilitation and Automation of Irrigation Water Delivery Systems," a very widely distributed publication. It has been effective in obtaining worldwide understanding of the inter?relationship of a flexible automated water supply system and the on-farm user. I have distributed over 100 copies at various conferences and meetings as part of my desire to spread such information.

Design, Operation, and Maintenance of Irrigation and Drainage Systems Committee

My activity in this Committee was limited to correspondence until the Water Conveyance and Distribution Committee later consolidated with it. I presented a review of the proposed manual "Operation and Maintenance of Irrigation and Drainage Systems" to be printed in 1980. My review on proposed Section III showed that the Manual gave negligible consideration to on-farm needs and had no mention of downstream control necessary for the variable frequency, rate, and duration of farm water deliveries. There was no presentation about semi-closed pipelines, only about open and closed systems, nor mention of Neyrtec float controlled canal gates with level top canals. This review emphasized the need for the On-Farm committee's long term objective to educate the larger engineering profession about the on-farm needs of the basic client of irrigation projects. Many parts of my review were incorporated.

When the revision for the 1990 Manual was being written, I offered a long write-up emphasizing the need for consideration of the true objective of an irrigation project to supply water to the farm in a practical way for the farmer, not just the project. Most of these ideas were included, and I was included as a Peer Reviewer in the 1991 edition of the manual. The big engineers were finally "hearing" about the on-farm needs.

In 1993 the committee adopted as a long term objective "To promote awareness of the connection between on?farm needs for flexibility in frequency, rate and duration of flow, and the design, operation and management of supply and delivery systems." In 1994 a Task Committee, of which I was a member, was appointed entitled "Integration of Management, Design and On-Farm Needs in a Changing Economic and Ecological Climate."

Publications Committee

I have served for many years as a Peer Reviewer for the ID Div.

Activities in the Water Resources Planning and Management Division

I was a subscriber to the Journal for a number of years. I have contributed two papers (see list) and served as the invited representative from the Irrigation and Drainage Division to a T.C. of the WRP -.M Div. to present the irrigation aspects of water use in a manual on water conservation. It was published in the Journal in March 1981.

I have infrequently served as a Peer Reviewer for WRP?M Div.

American Association of Engineering Societies

A paper was submitted to the AAES 1984 award contest for helping the Lesser Developed Countries. It was entitled "Enhanced Irrigation Management in Sri Lanka." The paper was among those in the final selection group. Its emphasis was on the benefits derived at the farm level of having a flexible automated water supply.

Creative Contributions and Concepts

Over the course of the more than sixty years that I have been working in irrigation and water management, I have found a need to simplify or enhance old terms and concepts and develop new ones to better convey ideas. Many times it has involved writing papers and in some cases Task Committees to reach a broad consensus. Many of these ideas evolved while working in the field with farmers while with the SCS. Some were expanded while at the University and subsequently. They are not based on theoretical research but developed from practical needs. They are new terms and concepts or revisions that facilitate irrigation management and have been widely accepted.

Soil Moisture Deficiency (SMD). The early expressions concerned moisture in the soil. The SCS and laboratories used oven-dry weighing to determine moisture in the soil and then subtracted that from field capacity to determine a percent. Bulk density was then used to determine how much water to apply at an irrigation. The SCS had a table to describe the feel/appearance of a soil at these various moisture contents. I turned this over to develop a table that describes the feel/appearance of soils in direct terms of how dry they are which requires no intervening steps but gives the direct depth of water to be applied. This resulted in a paper and published table of Soil Moisture Deficiency (SMD) now widely used.

Management Allowable Deficiency (MAD). How dry the soil should be related to its texture and moisture tension (including salinity) for the economical production of crops. This was a concept I developed for use. It was published and widely used. The shortened term Allowable Deficiency is often used and so overlooks the importance of management.

Low Quarter Average Depth. The SCS in Handbook 82 used the average of the low quarter depth in sprinkler catch cans to compute a distribution efficiency for sprinklers replacing Christianson's statistical coefficient. I extended this to all methods and included irrigation and application efficiency as well. An On-Farm T.C. published this. It is very widely accepted as the numerator in efficiency and uniformity terms.

Advance Ratio. (AR) The SCS in evaluating furrows in Handbook 82 suggested without naming it, that water should advance to the lower end of a furrow in 1/4 the time it was running at the lower end in order to obtain satisfactory uniformity. I named and developed the use of the ratio to determine efficiency, runoff, deep percolation, and uniformity. The published papers showed that a 1/4 ratio resulted in poor efficiency even though uniformity was very good, and those ratios of about 1/1 were as efficient with smaller streams.

Plotting. Advance, Recession, and Depth Infiltrated Curves. Again the SCS Handbook 82 initiated the graphical procedure to illustrate field information. I expanded and refined the process to include extrapolated runoff so that all aspects of surface irrigation could be shown. This technique is utilized in my evaluation booklets and several publications. It is essential to include it for the determination of efficiencies and for visual presentation to farmers (and others) of water distribution and efficiency.

Border-Strip Irrigation. With the use of the plotted advance and recession curves, I showed that for each strip there is a fixed unique recession curve and so management's problem is to modify the advance curve to be relatively parallel. This condition for good irrigation is shown to be closely related to the strip length, smd, and stream size, and that short strips are as poor as too long strips. A published paper shows this relationship in a practical, not a theoretical way.

Level Top Canal. The Neyrtec company in France over sixty years ago developed float control canal gates that could maintain a constant upstream or downstream level in a canal regardless of flow rate. The term they used to describe the condition, "free surface," was not descriptive. As I started to encourage the use of the concept to provide automatic flow control needed for flexible on?farm deliveries, I developed the descriptive term "level top canal" to describe the essence of the concept, allowing a no-flow condition resulting in a level water surface and hence a level top canal. It is now accepted terminology.

Semi-Closed Pipeline. All early pipelines were closed or open in their operation. With the advent about sixty years ago of the Harris float valve, a new capability for automatic control developed. I worked with the manufacturer and wrote the design procedures for low pressure pipe systems and stable outlet pressures. I have widely encouraged its use to provide at the outlet point, a fairly stable low pressure suitable for farm distribution, but the rate of flow can be directly controlled similarly to a closed pipeline. This technique and equipment are essential to facilitate the flexible deliveries which I strongly recommend. I have written several papers about this.

Irrigation Scheduling. The terminology of demand and rotation and many other words failed to be adequately definitive and descriptive. I initiated a program that over many years culminated in the On-Farm T.C. publishing a paper defining the terms and including a middle group of "arranged" schedules. Flexibility of frequency, rate, and duration is described as demand, arranged, and rotation schedules with modifying restraints.

Flexible Irrigation Supply. The term was introduced in 1964 to describe the concept that the irrigation water supply should be under the control of the irrigator at his point of application as to the frequency, rate (variable) and duration, and that daytime only irrigation was implicit with a supply that was adequate and reliable.

Patents. I have obtained two patents. One (Nov. 1948) was for a standard pre-cast shape especially for concrete irrigation pipe, but adaptable to all, that permits the same section to be laid straight or on any curve desired. It consists of beveling opposite ends of adjacent sections so that by rotating each pair, an angle is formed . It has received very little use.

The second (Nov. 1955) created a flexible device for removing gasoline fumes from automobile tanks to reduce air pollution. It was ahead of its time and only recently came into use in major smog control cities.

Honors and Awards

Listing

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Awards

Outstanding Professor of the Year, 1964. California Polytechnic State University. (the first year the award was made). In 1975 was the University nominee to the State University System Outstanding Professor award.

Associate Member, 1972. Alpha Zeta National Agricultural Society, Cal Poly chapter.

Conservationist of the Year, 1978. Soil Conservation Society of America, California Chapter.

Royce J. Tipton Award, 1979. American Society of Civil Engineers, Irrigation and Drainage Division.

Irrigation Man of the Year, 1980. California Irrigation Institute. (The first year the award was made.)

Engineer of the Year, 1981. American Society of Agricultural Engineers, Pacific Coast Section.

The Cal Poly irrigation laboratory field was named the "John L. Merriam Irrigation Practice Field", 1982.

Honoree, 1993. American Society of Agronomy, California Chapter.

Outstanding Service Award, 1994. American Society of Civil Engineers, Irrigation and Drainage Division.

Outstanding Paper Discussion Award, 1996, ASCE Irrigation and Drainage Engineering Journal

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