[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 8 (Tuesday, February 1, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E116]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         BITTERSWEET RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JIM COSTA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 1, 2005

  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and wish well in 
retirement Mr. Tom Clark, of Bakersfield, California. This individual 
has served his community, his state, and his country well.
  Born October 21, 1945, Tom attended school in Bakersfield until he 
joined the army in 1968 and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant E-5. 
Following his honorable discharge in 1970, Tom enrolled in the Graduate 
Program at University of Pittsburgh; where he graduated in 1974 with a 
Master of Science in Water Supply-Water Pollution Control.
  We are thankful Tom utilized his training in school to become a key 
player in water issues back home, in the Central Valley.
  Tom was an initiator of the effort to create the Bay-Delta Accord of 
1994 as a response to unreliable water supplies. This agreement was a 
precursor to the CalFed Record of Decision by the Department of the 
Interior, which provided for a series of agreements between water 
agencies and environmentalists.
  He was a key player in negotiating the Monterey Amendments to the 
State Water Project contracts that included crucial revisions to the 
water shortage provision and the transfer of the Kern Water Bank from 
the State of California to the Kern Water Bank Authority, a Joint 
Powers Authority. Tom's efforts were lauded by the community and as a 
show of gratitude he received the prestigious Association of California 
water Agencies' Excellence in Water Leadership Award in 1996.
  Among his many accomplishments, Tom has taken part in numerous state 
and local water activities; not only in the public sector, but also in 
the private sector. He has established himself as an authority on water 
issues, serving as an expert witness for water management and water 
rights before state and federal courts as well as before the State 
Water Resources Control Board.
  More recently Tom has been challenged as the Kern County Water Agency 
General Manager, and taken on a number of significant projects and 
responsibilities including the acquisition of Kern Lower River rights 
and the coordination of the Agency's supports toward the passage of the 
CalFed authorization in October 2004.
  Tom has served the people of the state of California and the 
community of Bakersfield in an exemplary manner. For us, his retirement 
is bittersweet--although it is well deserved his efforts will be 
greatly missed. I congratulate Tom Clark, and wish his family all the 
best.

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