Thomas Herbert Means was born in 1875 in Virginia. His early career included nine years in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Soils, during which time he was in charge of soil surveys, principally in the western states. In 1898 he made a report on reclamation of alkali soils in Yellowstone. He also studied dry land soils and moisture content under different methods of farming at Glen Ullin and Fargo, North Dakota. In 1902, he visited North Africa, Algeria, Tunis and Egypt to study soils and irrigation. After that he served six years in the Bureau of Reclamation in land examination and farm unit subdivision and was in charge of a laboratory for the study of the silt-carrying capacities of western streams.

In 1910, Means went into private consulting practice in San Francisco, California, specializing in engineering connected with agriculture, irrigation, drainage, reclamation and water supply. At various times he was employed by the State of California to work on the Central Valley Project, by the City of San Francisco on the Hetch Hetchy Project-he played a key role in the court battles that led to water rights for the city-and as a consulting engineer for Orange County Flood Control District. He was also employed by the State of Montana Water Conservation Board on litigation on the Missouri River, and served as an expert witness in several lawsuits over waters in the western states.

Means died in November 1965 in Berkeley, California.