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GRA Presents 2002 Annual Awards
The Groundwater Resources Association of California recently presented its annual Lifetime Achievement Award and annual Kevin J. Neese Award at its 11th Annual Meeting on September 18, 2002.
The GRA Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to individuals for their exemplary contributions to the groundwater industry and for contributions that have been in the spirit of GRA's mission and organization objectives. Individuals that receive the Lifetime Achievement Award have dedicated their lives to the groundwater industry and have been pioneers in their field of expertise. The 2002 recipient is longtime geologist Thomas W. Dibblee, Jr.
GRA's Kevin J. Neese Award, which was established in 1999 in the name of the late Kevin J. Neese, a former GRA Director, geologist and attorney, recognizes significant accomplishment by a person or entity within the most recent 12-month period that fosters the understanding, development, protection and management of groundwater. The 2002 awardee is the Glenn County Water Advisory Committee .
Tom Dibblee is a legendary field geologist who still occasionally walks the Central Coast's back country with students and fellow geologists at age 91. He has devoted 75 years of his life to mapping California geology - crisscrossing one fourth of the state on foot. John Powell, President of the Dibblee Geological Foundation, has been quoted as saying, "Most field geologists aspire to produce one map or a small section of a map in their career. Mr. Dibblee has mapped more than 500 quadrangles of California geology." Joe Birman, GRA's Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in 2000, stated, "I can't think of anyone (Tom Dibblee) who has contributed more to those of us who must try to figure out where the groundwater comes from, where it is and what happens to it on its way through the geology. My first reflex when starting a new groundwater project in California is to ask, Has Tom Been Here?"
Tom Dibblee previously received the U.S. Department of the Interior Distinguished Service Award (1967) presented by Stewart Udall, then Secretary of the Interior, who praised Dibblee's highly accurate geologic maps, technological papers in some of the nation's leading scientific journals, and a wide spectrum of contributions in the publications series of the state of California and the Geological Survey. He has also received the Presidential Volunteer Action Award in 1984 from President Reagan (for volunteer work in mapping the entire Las Padres National Forest for the Forest Service) and the Human Needs Award from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
The Glenn County Water Advisory Committee was selected as the Kevin J. Neese award recipient for formulating a significant groundwater management ordinance that was adopted by the Glenn County Board of Supervisors. The ordinance was a noteworthy achievement in that it required that management objectives be identified for groundwater levels for 17 sub-areas of the basin. The Board of Supervisors adopted the management objectives as the first step in beginning to manage groundwater within the County. GRA Director Scott Slater, who was instrumental in establishing the Kevin J. Neese award stated, "The Glenn County Water Advisory Committee and the Board of Supervisors have taken a major step toward managing the quantity and quality of groundwater that will help meet the needs of agricultural, industrial, recreational, environmental, residential and municipal uses within the County, now and in the future".
Also at the Annual Meeting, GRA awarded its first (newly established) Special Recognition Award to William (Bill) R. Mills, Jr., recently retired General Manager of the Orange County Water District (OCWD), for overseeing OCWD's innovative groundwater management programs, which advocated the use of reclaimed wastewater and improved the District's extensive groundwater recharge system.
GRA is a statewide, non-profit organization of over 800 scientists, engineers, planners, educators, attorneys, students, hydrogeologists and other professionals that is dedicated to advancing and promoting resource management that protects and improves groundwater in California. |
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