Charles Hamilton Lee was born February 1, 1883, in Oakland, California, and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1905. He began his career as a hydrographer for the U.S. Geological Survey but resigned in 1906 to become assistant engineer for the city of Los Angeles. From 1906-1911, he was involved in the design and construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. During this period his report on the groundwater basin of the Independence region of the Owens Valley was published as U.S.G.S. Water-Supply Paper 294.

From 1912-1917 he had his own practice as a civil and hydraulic engineer in Los Angeles, serving in 1912 as hydraulic engineer for the California State Conservation Commission. After World War I, Lee was appointed President of the State Water Commission of California and subsequently Chief of the Division of Water Rights. In this capacity he had an active influence on water resources development in California.

In 1921 Lee again set up private practice, this time in San Francisco, doing a wide variety of work on all phases of water supply and structural foundation. A major client was the city of Los Angeles, for whom he did work connected with the Owens Valley, in large part related to pending litigation. In addition to work performed for Los Angeles, Lee was consulting engineer for several other California municipalities and numerous U.S. departments and agencies, including the State of California, water, public utility, and irrigation districts, and private companies and individuals in California and elsewhere. He was consulting engineer for the fill project that built Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay and from 1936-1939 he was chief of Water Supply and Sanitation for the Golden Gate International Exposition.

Other soil engineering work included slide repairs, foundation engineering, tunnels, and earth dams. He was recipient of the 1939 Norman Medal awarded by the American Society of Civil Engineers for his research on materials for earth fill dams.

Charles H. Lee died at his home in Berkeley, California on May 4, 1967, at the age of 84.