Jonas Magruder Minton

1948 - 2022

Jonas Magruder Minton
September 4, 1948 - June 22, 2022
Sacramento, California -
California has lost an exceptional human being. Jonas Minton, loving husband, brilliant water policy guru, environmental advocate, daring kayaker, avid skier and sports car enthusiast, died on June 22, 2022 from a heart condition. He was 73.
Jonas' passion for all things water-related defined much of his life. Starting with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) in 1978, he rose to become the Department's Deputy Director (2000-2004), where he was responsible for overseeing the Divisions of Planning, Local Assistance, Dam Safety, Water Conservation, and Flood Management. During his remarkable career, he served on the team that secured the 1981 Federal Wild and Scenic River protection for more than 1,200 miles of California rivers, led the El Dorado County Water Agency (1994), and guided the ground-breaking agreement to resolve the bitter water wars on the Lower American River through his tenure as Executive Director of the Sacramento Area Water Forum (1995-2000). His ability to strongly advocate for the health of the State's rivers and San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta complemented his uncanny capacity to bring diverse, adversarial parties together to solve intractable water problems through dialogue and collaboration.
After retiring from DWR in 2004, he served as Senior Water Policy Advisor to the Planning and Conservation League (PCL) until his death, where he worked for years with a broad coalition to successfully remove, in 2015, the San Clemente Dam on the Carmel River. He also led the effort for a comprehensive statewide flood management package, signed into law in 2007. And more recently, again while at PCL, Jonas convened a group of distinguished water law and policy experts to develop 11 detailed legislative recommendations on water rights management, climate change, drought and water justice. A number of these recommendations are now before the California Legislature.
As towering as his water policy contributions were, Jonas' life was equally meaningful in the ways he touched others' lives. His wide circles of friends experienced, up close, his generosity, kindness and humanity. He spent countless hours mentoring and motivating young people in their search for a more purposeful life. He was the one that sat with and listened to those suffering a personal tragedy. When one crossed his path, he sincerely cared about what was going on in their life. He recruited hundreds of people to volunteer for community causes, including the 1989 successful campaign to close the local Rancho Seco nuclear power plant. He challenged people to question their assumptions. His relentless optimism was contagious. When he looked at you with that twinkle in his eye, you knew he wanted to know what you thought. His example inspired people to become better versions of themselves.
And Jonas really knew how to have fun! From setting a motorcycle speed record at Bonneville Salt Flats in his early twenties to his lively birthday parties on the deck of his Coloma home to his 40-year Boating Group's adventures kayaking and "hot-dogging" on the South Fork of the American River, Jonas' zest for living is legendary. Both professionally and socially, Jonas was ever the prankster, including sometimes roller blading through DWR hallways when he was on the job and fooling friends with his dead-pan jokes and quick wit.
Jonas was married to the love of his life, Julie, for 42 years. Jonas is Julie's "heart-throb." Jonas is survived by nephews Tim Minton Nelson and Aaron Robertson. He was preceded in death by his father, mother and sister, Lisa. On Julie's side of the family, Jonas has 12 loving sisters and brothers-in-law as well as 12 nieces and nephews and 20 grandnieces and nephews who all name him as their favorite uncle. Family, friends and colleagues will be invited to a celebration of life for Jonas later this year. Donations to honor Jonas can be made to Friends of the River, the Sacramento Food Bank or the American Heart Association.