By Dennis Heiman ~ I came to the State Board in 1975, rescued after a year in the desert (Region 7) by Planning and Research Division chief Michael Campos and assigned to work under James on the completion of the individual Regional Board Water Quality Control Plans (Basin Plans). I spent the next five years working with and learning from James before the urge to move north took me to the Region 5 Redding office. We were a close group…
Photos from Christine Connelly ~
By Jim Brow ~ I’ve known James since I was a teenager, when he and Carole were in Berkeley. He seemed very proper in his manner at first. He was probably just over whelmed by our boisterous family and didn’t know how else to react. One summer when I was about seventeen or eighteen, James and Carole drove the old blue Capri out to Utah for a visit. One day, the rest of the family was going fishing or something,…
By Kevin Graves ~ James was a friend and mentor. He trained in college as a wastewater engineer, and it was central to how he viewed other water supply issues. He worked on cross-border wastewater issues with Mexico. In the early 90’s he moved out of wastewater engineering into groundwater cleanup. This included UST issues like MTBE, dry cleaners with PCE contamination, and unlined leaking landfills. Also, the impact of nitrates from agriculture. He did pioneering work with the Lawrence…
By Allan Patton ~ James had 20 years experience with the Board before I started working with him. He worked on the Clean Water Grants program, Operator Certification, the Border Program including the New River and Salton Sea, and probably every other program at the Board except Water Rights. MtBE – James was the leader in getting MtBE removed from gasoline in California. Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Program – James challenged the basis for this program by asking “Where is…
By Carole Brow ~ James was moved beyond words when Paul W. Hadley, Ravi Arulanantham, and Deepa Gandhi dedicated a paper they wrote to him.
By Carole Brow ~ If you knew James at all, you knew that he was a cat person. Over the years we have been the staff to over 3 dozen cats, each of which was loved and pampered by James. For example, “his” cat Squeaker was a People-Cat who hated (I mean, really hated!) other cats. As a result, she had to be sequestered so we didn’t have WW III every time she came face to face with another of…
By Pegg & Bill Knapp ~ It is hard to believe that James, our neighbor and friend, is gone. Our favorite memories are of running into him while out walking and having incredibly great conversations that often lasted longer than the walk. James was so knowledgeable, so full of interesting ideas, often with a biting dry wit, and an excellent sounding board. His interests were wide and varied: tomatoes (he was such an avid grower), water conservation, solar power, Port…
By Steve Morse ~ One of my remembrances on this early and warm September day… I still remember James visiting my garden one Saturday in August maybe 15 plus years ago. The occasion was when I invited my Regional Board Division (many had worked on projects with James) to a backyard BBQ here in Martinez… Ravi was the BBQ master… I don’t think Carole came, but somewhere I seem to remember a teen-age niece. It was late summer and one of…
By Ravi Arulanantham, PhD ~ I like to share a story that will explain the nature of James and how much he liked and cared for his coworkers. Sometimes back in 1998-1999 time period I was working with James on some amendments to a policy document (SWRCB Resolution 92-49). One day he sent me a recommendation suggested by a staff member from another region and asked me to give my feedback on the 3-4 page suggested language. After reading the…