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 in the Basin Plan unit, James, myself, Merry Benard, Peter Lee, Tess Smith.

James was not a stickler for agency policy or protocol, his focus was on important problems and issues and getting them addressed. He expected his staff to approach their work assignments in a professional manner and led by example.

James and I discussed the concept of ‘stream health’ as a more holistic approach to beneficial water use protection/enhancement, as opposed to a single minded focus on numerical standards for individual water quality constituents. In that regard, he was a ‘man before his time’.

I will always remember James as an imaginative and intuitive thinker and not just a supervisor concerned only that the required work got done and on time. He was often a person of few words but they were always meaningful. After leaving the State Board Sacramento office, I was fortunate enough to have another 30 years of what turned out to be a very enjoyable and rewarding career with the Water Board, and I honestly believe much of that is due to the time I spent with James and what I learned from him.