In 1889 drinking water was first piped to Vancouver from the Capilano River to supplement wells and small local sources. As the city grew, so did its needs for water reserves. The Cleveland Dam was built in 1954 to create a reservoir. The reservoir behind the dam is 5.6 kilometers in length and 79 metres deep near the dam. It can hold 75 million cubic metres (16.5 billion gallons) of water.
The watershed that supplies the reservoir covers an area of 198 square kilometers. Ernest Albert Cleveland, LL.D., first chief commissioner of the Greater Vancouver Water District (1926-52) foresaw the requirements to maintain a pristine water supply and limited access to the watersheds of Vancouver years before it became standard operating procedures for watersheds in North America. The dam is named after him.
Ernest Albert Cleveland,
Water engineer b. May 12, 1874, Alma, New Brunswick, d. Jan. 8, 1952, North Vancouver. Came to Vancouver in 1890; worked as a federal surveyor (1896). After graduation from U. of Washington, DC, in 1904, worked as an engineer. In 1910 opened the large engineering and surveying firm of Cleveland and Cameron. Appointed first chief commissioner of the Great Vancouver Water District (1926-52). His work was considered so important that when it came to retirement in 1940, special legislation was passed allowing him to continue on the job. LL.D (UBC, 1936).
The LL.D is an Honorary Degree given to Ernest in 1936 by the University of British Columbia. From the UBC website for Honorary Degree Citations 1925 - 1945:
THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF LAWS (honoris causa) CONFERRED AT SPECIAL CONGREGATION, MAY 6TH, 1936.
ERNEST ALBERT CLEVELAND
The first of these is Ernest Albert Cleveland, President of the Engineering Institute of Canada. Of him it can be said, more literally perhaps than of any other citizen of this province and city, that the work of his hands is established all around us. For nearly a decade he was Provincial Comptroller of Water Rights, and for a full decade he has directed many of the great engineering concerns and projects on which the existence of Vancouver depends. He has never courted public attention; but by the sheer virtue of his service, he merits and has won the acclaim and affection of a whole community. This university is justly proud of its graduates in engineering; and, as a further incentive to them, the Senate would enrol this most distinguished member of the profession among their number.
Information for this waymark came from the 'The History of Metropolitan Vancouver's HALL OF FAME' and UBC.