He worked for the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Indianapolis for seven months and departed for Fort Collins, Colorado, by the end of the year.

He was also a prominent supporter of the Cody Canal, one of the nation's first Carey Act projects undertaken by a group of investors, including William F.

He continued to serve in California until 1924, when he was appointed commissioner of the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) in President Calvin Coolidge's administration.

[4] At the USBR, Mead oversaw the planning and execution of construction of major water control and irrigation projects in the West: the Hoover, Grand Coulee and Owyhee dams.

Originally interred at Abbey Mausoleum, he was reburied at National Memorial Park in Falls Church, Virginia, in 2001 after the former crypt closed and was demolished.