[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 170 (Tuesday, December 3, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1779-E1780]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN RECOGNITION OF ARTHUR ROY JENSEN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 3, 2013

  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Arthur Roy Jensen on the day 
he is retiring after a remarkable career serving water customers of the 
Bay Area for 37 years. Art has served as the CEO of the Bay Area Water 
Supply & Conservation Agency since its creation ten years ago.
  I had the great honor to work closely with Art on the creation of 
BAWSCA while I was in the California Legislature. BAWSCA is tasked with 
protecting the health, safety and economic well-being of water 
customers in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties who depend on 
the Hetch Hetchy water system.
  Art, as the father of BAWSCA, he led the agency ably for 10 years. He 
has always been smart, strategic and exceptionally knowledgeable about 
water--California's gold.
  Starting in 1995, Art was the General Manager of the Bay Area Water 
Users Association (BAWUA), BAWSCA's predecessor. In 2002, the 
California Legislature authorized the multi-county agency and in 2003 
it was formed. BAWSCA has three goals: a reliable supply, high quality 
water and a fair price. Today it serves 1.7 million residents, 30,000 
businesses and thousands of community organizations.
  Under Art's leadership, the agency has negotiated a 25-year water 
supply agreement with San Francisco that saves residents in San Mateo, 
Santa Clara and Alameda millions of dollars, created regional water 
conservation programs, brokered an agreement to share limited water 
supplies during droughts, and initiated a long-term reliable water 
supply strategy, among many other concrete results.

[[Page E1780]]

  Before joining BAWUA and BAWSCA, Art served as Assistant General 
Manager and Director of Planning at the Contra Costa Water District for 
five years. From 1984-1990, he was the Deputy and Acting General 
Manager of the San Francisco Water Department. His time there included 
the Loma Prieta earthquake and the initial years of the most recent 
drought. From 1977-1984, Art worked as a senior engineer at Brown and 
Caldwell Consulting Engineers where he performed studies of the San 
Francisco regional water supply, treatment and delivery system. He also 
taught engineering at UC Berkeley. Before that, he was an acting 
assistant professor at Stanford University from 1976-1977 teaching 
courses in water management, hydrology, hydrologic modeling and 
hydraulic engineering.
  Art also serves on the advisory board of Sustainable Silicon Valley 
and the citizens advisory committee of the San Francisco Public 
Utilities Commission.
  Art was born in Berkeley in 1954. He earned his B.S. in Engineering 
Physics from UC Berkeley and both his M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental 
Engineering Science from California Institute of Technology in 
Pasadena.
  He and his wife of 37 years, Mary, have one daughter, Catherine. In 
his well-deserved retirement, Art is looking forward to spending more 
time with family and friends. His many interests, including 
photography, aviation history, Buddhism, chess, harmonica and guitar, 
will undoubtedly keep him engaged and active.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to 
honor a brilliant engineer, a water expert and a dear friend. He leaves 
behind giant shoes to fill and his leadership will be missed by his 
colleagues and Bay Area residents.

                          ____________________