[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 747-748]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING GARY DARLING FOR HIS DEDICATED SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JERRY McNERNEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 11, 2017

  Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I, along with my colleagues, 
Representatives DeSaulnier and Huffman, rise today to honor Gary W. 
Darling for dedicating 33 years to an incredible career as a water 
professional. Mr. Darling developed his technical background by 
graduating from the University of California, Davis and becoming a 
registered professional civil engineer. His academic pedigree led him 
to a long and productive career in managing and leading a water agency, 
numerous infrastructure projects, and building coalitions in Northern 
California.
   For 15 years, Mr. Darling managed the Los Vaqueros Reservoir 
Project, which is a crucial reservoir for our region's water supply and 
environment. He was a Project Manager during the planning and 
environmental review phases for the $1 billion Freeport Regional Water 
Authority and served for six years on the Board of Directors for the 
California Association of Sanitation Agencies. Notably, he served 11 
years as General Manager of Delta Diablo, overseeing wastewater 
resource recovery services for 200,000 people across Antioch, Bay 
Point, and Pittsburg. Delta Diablo is proud to be an award-winning 
agency that is ``transforming wastewater to resources'' by investing in 
innovative solutions and partnerships.
   Mr. Darling also has a long and successful history of leading 
organizations. For more than eight years, he has led the 19-agency Bay 
Area Biosolids to Energy Coalition. Members implement regional 
biosolids management solutions to maximize renewable energy and 
minimize greenhouse gas emissions. To Gary's credit, this coalition has 
six pre-commercial bioenergy technology projects in development.

[[Page 748]]

   Gary Darling has shown impressive leadership of the 22-member 
Western Recycled Water Coalition (WRWC) over the last nine years. This 
important coalition recruits members and facilitates collaboration to 
develop sustainable water supplies for their communities throughout the 
western United States. WRWC secured close to $35 million in federal 
funding that was leveraged with local and state funds to construct 
eight essential water infrastructure projects. The coalition also 
secured $4 million for feasibility studies and planning for 14 new 
projects. 2016 membership includes planning for 34 projects that will 
provide close to 200,000 acre-feet per year of sustainable water 
supplies. Mr. Darling and WRWC also worked with Lawrence Livermore 
National Laboratory, Stanford University, and others to pilot 
innovative new desalination and wastewater technologies to advance the 
wastewater resource recovery industry.
   In conclusion, we ask our colleagues to join us in acknowledging and 
thanking Gary Darling for his service and significant contributions to 
our communities and water supply. We congratulate him on his retirement 
and are looking forward to his future ventures.

                          ____________________