Floyd E. Dominy, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, 1959 1969.

Dominy is easily the most colorful Commissioner in Reclamation's history. Contemporaries say Dominy wielded more influence on Capitol Hill than any Secretary of the Interior. A subject in two influential books focusing on water in the West, Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert and John McPhee's Encounters with the Archdruid. Born in 1909 and raised on a Nebraska farm, Dominy grew up realizing the importance of irrigation west of the hundredth meridian. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Wyoming in 1932. After college, Dominy worked as a teacher, agricultural agent and Assistant Director of the Food Supply Division. He joined Reclamation in 1946 as a land settlement specialist. He supervised the Allocations and Repayment Branch, Division of Irrigation between 1950 and 1957. Dominy rose to Assistant Commissioner from 1957 to 1958, and eventually assumed the Associate Commissioner's job from 1958 to 1959. Dominy took control of the Commissioner's office on May 1, 1959. Notable events during his term as commissioner include completion of Glen Canyon, Flaming Gorge, and Navajo Dams on the Colorado River Storage Project. Dominy also played a role in the authorization and initiation of construction of San Luis Unit and pushed for the completion of the Trinity River Division, Central Valley Project.

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