[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 54 (Monday, April 26, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO THE LEGACY OF JEFF L. TAYLOR

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CALVIN M. DOOLEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 26, 2004

  Mr. DOOLEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
the efforts of Jeff L. Taylor, former General Manager/Chief Engineer/
Secretary of the Kings River Conservation District in California's San 
Joaquin Valley. Mr. Taylor passed away at his home in Fresno, CA on 
January 2, 2003, leaving behind a legacy of exemplary leadership in the 
construction of public works.
  After graduating from San Jose State College in 1957. Mr. Taylor 
began his engineering career with the Kern County Land Company and the 
Fresno Irrigation District before establishing his own engineering firm 
in Fresno. Following three years of engineering work in what was then 
East Pakistan, Mr. Taylor commenced a distinguished thirty-year career 
as General Manager-Chief Engineer for the Kings River Conservation 
District (KRCD) in 1972.
  While Mr. Taylor was responsible for establishing the KRCD as one of 
the San Joaquin Valley's leading water resource agencies, he will 
forever be remembered for his tireless dedication to the successful 
construction of the Pine Flat Power Plant, completed in 1984. The power 
plant, situated at the base of the Pine Flat Dam, was the crowning 
achievement in Mr. Taylor's visionary plan to best utilize the 
resources of the Kings River area through water supply and 
hydroelectric projects. The power plant possesses the capability to 
provide enough energy to supply a metropolitan area the size of Fresno.
  Mr. Taylor's peers credited his efforts in obtaining the original 
FERC license to construct the power plant and lauded him for his 
leadership over its successful construction and operation. During Mr. 
Taylor's tenure as General Manager, the KRCD also worked to protect 
Kings River environmental resources, promoted better on-farm water 
management, and confronted the area's groundwater overdraft problems.
  April 2004 marks the 20th anniversary of the power plant's original 
dedication, and the KRCD has voted to re-name the Pine Flat Power Plant 
the Jeff L. Taylor Pine Flat Power Plant. Mr. Speaker, I ask my 
colleagues to join me in commemorating the distinguished efforts of 
Jeff L. Taylor and his record of service to his community on this 
special occasion.

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