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.
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Tom
Dibblee, GRA 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient
with Carl Hauge, 2001 recipient and Joe Birman, 2000
recipient
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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.
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Scott
Slater, GRA Director,
Bill Menke, Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, and Bob
Van Valer, GRA Director
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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. |
