Langdon W. ‘Don’ Owen A Newport Beach...

Langdon W.

‘Don’ Owen

A Newport Beach resident who once served as the Orange County

Water District’s general manager died Thursday.

Langdon W. “Don” Owen spent 10 years as the water district’s

general manager and developed the concept for the Water Factory 21,

an internationally known water treatment and groundwater recharge

facility in Fountain Valley, district officials said Friday.

Virginia Grebbien, the present district general manager, called

Owen “an icon in the water industry.”

Owen was “a visionary leader who was light years ahead of his

time,” she said. “He was the man who in 1969 essentially built a

pilot ocean desalination plant in Orange County and saw this

technology as a key component to Southern California’s future water

supply.”

Owen also helped create policy on water-related issues. He had

served as an appointed member of the board of directors for the

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California since 1996.

Owen was 72. Funeral services are pending.

He is survived by wife Sandy; four sons; two stepdaughters; one

stepson; and 12 grandchildren. The family requests that in lieu of

flowers, donations be made to the attention of Kelly at the Don Owen

Water Science and Policy Fellowship, c/o UC Irvine School of Social

Ecology, 300 Social Ecology I, Irvine, CA 92697-7050.

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