Harvey O. Banks was an internationally known water engineer and played a key role in developing the California Water Project (1955-1961). He graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1930 and went on to get his master's degree in hydraulic and sanitary engineering from Stanford. After returning from WWII he spent a brief period working as a consulting engineer and for the California Division of Water Resources (DWR). Edmund G. ""Pat"" Brown reappointed Banks as the director of the DWR which allowed for the building of bi-partisian support for the California Water Project. He also dealt with the Davis-Grunsky, Burns-Porter and San Luis acts as well as various other legislature and water project policy. In this interview, Banks discusses his professional background, water quality, water rights, Flood Control Act of 1944, the development and financing of the California Water Project, pricing, usage, and salt water demineralization in the waterways, state water agencies reorganization and the state's role in multi-purpose water development. This interview is part of a group of interviews documenting Californian water resources development.