by Susanna Eden, WRRC
In July 2013, Arizona lost two important figures in the field of water resources. One a hydrological scientist, the other an environmental advocate and lobbyist; both were known for their profound knowledge and pragmatism.
“Dr. Herman Bouwer dedicated his life to the advancement of water resources research, planning, and development on a global scale. He was a trusted friend and teacher to many of us that work in the field of water resource management in Arizona, throughout the United States, and in many countries around the world.” This tribute appeared in the Arizona Hydrological Society newsletter, an organization that in 1997 awarded Bouwer a Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2000 named a scholarship program in his honor—The Herman Bouwer Intern Scholarship, to which he donated his monetary award from the Prince Sultan Bin AbdulAziz International Prize for Water in the field of Artificial Groundwater Recharge. He also received the National Groundwater Association’s Life Member Award.
Bouwer was chief engineer with the Water Conservation Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for many years and in that position he distinguished himself as one of the world’s foremost groundwater hydrologists and experts in the field of artificial groundwater recharge. As the AHS newsletter observed, his pioneering work in groundwater recharge with particular emphasis on the reclamation and reuse of sewage effluent through Soil Aquifer Treatment was influential not just at home in Arizona, but nationally and internationally. He was the author of many journal articles and books, including Groundwater Hydrology published in 1978. The science of groundwater recharge has lost a leader with his passing.
Priscilla Robinson, whom I first met in 1985 as a graduate student conducting interviews for a project on water conservation, impressed me with her no-nonsense attitude. Many times over her long career that attitude, along with her deep knowledge of water issues, had an important impact on policy and management decisions in the Tucson area and beyond. She was a major force in framing Arizona’s environmental legislation, including the Groundwater Management Act, signed into law in 1980, and the Environmental Quality Act of 1986, which created the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. As Tony Davis described eloquently in the Arizona Daily Star, “her interests were much broader than water, extending across environmental issues to issues of social justice, and continuing throughout her life.”
Robinson was director of the Southwest Environmental Service from 1975 to 1988, a non-profit organization working for the protection of the environment. During her tenure, SES gained a reputation for responsible leadership and informed commentary on environmental issues. After retirement, she participated in the Tucson/Pima County Water and Wastewater Infrastructure, Supply and Planning Study, a multiyear effort that published its Phase 2 report in 2009. As recently as May of this year she was quoted in the Daily Star expressing a frank assessment of a proposed pipeline to carry Central Arizona Project water south from Tucson to a groundwater savings facility. Her voice in environmental policy deliberations will be missed.