Robert Pietrowsky Remarks

April 12, 2010

WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS

Robert Pietrowsky, Director, IWR

Good afternoon. Welcome.  It is my great privilege to serve as host of today’s festivities. Thank you so much for joining us today – many of you not only for the symposium this afternoon, but also the dinner this evening.

You all should have picked up a program as you came in. It contains the agenda for this afternoon and lists the speakers, panelists and honorees along with their bios.

Today's program has five components:

• During this first phase I’m delighted that we have remarks by the Honorable Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, and Mr. Steve Stockton, the Corps Director of Civil Works.
• Next on the program is the induction of four former Institute leaders into the Gallery of Distinguished Employees: Mike Krouse, who couldn’t be with us today; Mike Walsh, former IWR Senior Manager; Arlen Feldman, former Division Chief at the Hydrologic Engineering Center; and Kyle Schilling, former IWR Director. We are also please that each will be introduced by someone associated with their career.
• The induction of honorees is followed by the Symposium's Panel Discussion. Dr. Len Shabman of Resources for the Future will be moderating the panel, which includes Dr. Gerry Galloway, University of Maryland; Dr. Denise Reed; University of New Orleans and a current EAB member; and Dr. John Boland, Professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins University.
• At 5 pm we have some snacks and drinks set up on the second floor in the IWR classroom. We will also unveil the IWR timeline display in the hallway near the Maass-White Room and launch the Lock Performance Monitoring Systems Reporting System on Twitter.
  
  
• At 6 pm it's off to the Officers Club for those of you joining us for dinner (starting at 7:00). Again we are much honored to have the 47th Chief of Engineers, Hank Hatch making remarks during the dinner.

Let me note that, in addition to our speakers and honorees, we have many distinguished guests in the audience today. Please let me recognize them – please stand and be acknowledged:

John D’Aniello, former Deputy Director of Civil Works, or, as it was known during John’s tenure the Principal Assistant for Civil Works

Dr. Jim Johnson, former Chief of Planning for the Corps

Darryl Davis, former Director of the Hydrologic Engineering Center

Dr. Jay Fredrich, former IWR Director, actually the first civilian director of the Institute

Dr. Matt Larson, the USGS Associate Director for Water & Chair of the U.S. National Committee for UNESCO’s IHP program

Dr. Verne Schneider, the USGS International Water Resources Branch Chief

Dr. Jim Kundell, Chair of the EAB and Professor Emeritus from the University of Georgia

Terry Cook, from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), now with TNC’s Kentucky chapter, and a member of the EAB

Dr. Peter Rogers, Professor Emeritus at Harvard University

Ken Reid, AWRA

Dick Engberg, AWRA

Harry Cook, longtime leader of the National Waterways Conference

Bruce McDowell, from the National Academy of Public Administration, and the key person who worked on the Federal Infrastructure Strategy while he was with the White House’s Advisory Council on Intergovernmental  Relations

Betsy Cody, from the Congressional Research Service

Gail Bingham, former recent IWR visiting scholar, from RESOLVE

David Penick, former Director of the Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center

Eric Webb, Sandia National Laboratory

Evan Vlachos, Colorado State University, and a member of our new UNESCO Center for Integrated Water Resources Management

Joe Hoffman, Director of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin

Meredith Bridgers, from the National Recreation and Park Association

Sara Michaels, University of Nebraska

Kenneth Verosub,Department of State

As  we approached this Anniversary celebration, the Institute has been hosting a series of smaller workshops which have focused on retrospective looks at the evolution of key activities and programs over the last 40 years. These included looks at:

• The evolution of risk analysis and approaches to flood risk management within the Corps
• The history and future of the Hydrologic Engineering Center
• The Corps emerging role in international water resources
• The data and information programs of NDC and WCSC
• The  evolving role of public involvement in the Corps

We have also developed a timeline display, along with the placement of a series of historical vignettes on our website, which have been complied into a second handout – a booklet of a sample of illustrative highlights, 20 key activities over the last 40 years.  It was hard to choose only 20 activities, so my apologies to those of you who may be disappointed to not see your key work included.

One of the hardest things to get used to in life is the impermanence of everything - the challenge of adjusting to change. More and more at work, people come and go, organizations and buildings rise and fall, and now, with global climate change, even the seasons themselves no longer seem fixed. Such changes seem to be accelerating, at least from my life’s perspective, even affecting the way we live, and how we work and communicate, with technology playing a huge role.

In Federal service today, people seem to be changing jobs much more often than those of us did in my own Baby-Boomer Generation. And when it comes to people passing into and out of our lives, the ultimate change is the passing-on of our colleagues – and we’ve recently been reminded of this harsh reality with the deaths of two of the true giants in our business – of course I’m talking about the passing of Reds Wolman last February, and, even more recently, of Bud Viesman, just last week.

And yet, despite this accelerated change in our lives, our work, and certainly within the Corps Civil Works program, here we are, at the 40th Anniversary of the Institute. No, 40 years doesn’t come close to approaching the 235 year history of the Army, or the longevity of many other Corps elements. But, frankly, this milestone is really not about the institution itself – it’s really a tribute to the many skilled professionals that have worked here over the last 40 years and their accumulated commitment to excellence.

It’s about the culture of scholarship that the people who have worked here created and nurtured – long before I arrived, and it’s a tribute to the foresight and leadership of those who have led us from Headquarters, and those that have worked with us from around the Corps and the many colleagues who have partnered with us from other agencies and organizations. This includes many of you who are in the room today.

And, finally it is about the treasure that represents our nation’s water resources – developed and managed by so many devoted people throughout our nation’s history – for the benefit of  us all.

That’s why it’s important to take time to recognize and celebrate the contributions of the many people that have devoted their public service thru their work at the Institute, and it’s why I’m delighted that as part of this day we’re recognizing four individuals for all they’ve accomplished and given to the Nation by inducting them into our “Hall of Fame” Gallery.

Let me close by citing some extracts from the Chief’s testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee:

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

The decade has opened with a sharply increased emphasis on the environment. Since the scope of our Civil Works activities touches virtually all interests, we are deeply involved in this heightened awareness of the environment in which we work and live. Our mission in the broadest sense is, of course, to further the well-being of our nation.

What does the increased interest in the environment mean to the Corps? Let me discuss this in general terms - as there are, of course, many aspects to it.  The nation’s natural resources no longer appear limitless, as great demands are placed upon it. These demands are both increasing and changing. The increase in population continues to grow, and the nature of the water resources services they demand change as society’s values continue to evolve.

There is a growing demand to preserve the natural environment; yet at the same time, we want to continue to improve the American way of life.  As a consequence, the competition for the available water resources is sometimes intense. The Corps, particularly, is made aware of this challenge each day, namely that the demands to both preserve our resources as well as to utilize them must be addressed; and the ways in which we meet these demands must change too.

We are learning that more extensive planning, consideration of alternatives, and new evaluation techniques represent significant new requirements.  And the protection and improvement in the environment represents an integral part of water resources development, and must be coordinated with all of the other aspects of water and land-related development. Only in this manner can our planning be truly comprehensive and total water resources management be achieved.

As more and more people and activities come to depend on the same body or reach of water for various purposes, it becomes clear that we must recognize this interdependence and consider the  trade-offs between these various purposes. We cannot achieve total water resources management until environment quality is considered in a comprehensive manner as part of the overall water resources planning and development.

I believe the Corps is prepared to meet the challenge of the coming decade, which as I see it, is to provide for the continued wise development of our available water resources while ensuring the protection – and even the enhancement – of the environment.

As you probably began to sense as I continued on, this excerpt is not from General Van Antwerp’s recent testimony on the Hill, and the decade being spoken to is not the contemporary one, but rather it’s the 1970’s and the testimony is not from our 52nd Chief, but rather from the 42nd Chief of Engineers, Lt. General Fredrick J. Clarke, in March 1970.

Remarkably, the challenges General Clarke described in the terms of: comprehensive planning, the competition for available water resources; the interdependence between water and land resources, and between the natural and constructed environments, all resonate just as true today within the contemporary context of our focus on environmental sustainability, systems analysis and integrated water resources planning and management, and trade-offs encompassing both monetary and non-monetary outputs.

In a sense, despite all of the change we’ve seen over the last 40 years, the challenges facing the Corps Civil Works program today still closely mirror those that set the conditions which led to the creation of the Institute in 1969 – that is, to support Civil Works by anticipating changes in national water resources conditions, and to develop, apply and help infuse new policies, procedures, methodologies, software tools, information systems and training to position the Corps to address these needs.

This mission is perhaps even magnified today with the advancement of our understanding of the scientific complexities associated with natural resources decision-making, along with a better appreciation of the uncertainties accompanying these decisions– having a better understanding of what we don’t know.

Today’s event is aimed at this nexus between the past, present and the future, with the symposium attempting to provide an opportunity for both reflection and fellowship – informing us a bit on the past, recognizing past accomplishments, and celebrating the dedicated service of our people – things which are all essential to future success.

I truly believe that the Institute’s greatest work is yet to come, not to be accomplished by myself or those of you in my generation (sorry)….but rather it’s the destiny of many of those in the room, along with others who’ve yet to join us, who will develop the next generation of  “Big Ideas”  in order to tackle the emerging issues of the 21st Century – working thru the challenges of global climate change, developing a contemporary set of Principles and Guidelines to guide decision-making, ensuring both a sustainable natural and constructed environment, and addressing problems that haven’t even emerged yet.

We have a very full program, with two distinguished leaders following me on the agenda and a talented group of panelists who will be speaking to the future Corps role in water resources.

Before I leave the podium, please let me recognize the IWR Planning  team for today’s event:

Paul Wagner
Arlene Nurthen
John Singley
Darrel Nolton
Bob Brumbaugh
Tony Eberhardt
Mark Sudol
Sandy Phillips
Jeanene Nieberding
Margaruiette Olson
Theresa Hoang
Jan Peterson

Now it my great pleasure to introduce The Honorable Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. Ms. Darcy was appointed by the President as ASA(CW) on 11 August 2009 following her confirmation by the Senate. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Darcy was the Senior Environmental Advisor to the Senate Finance Committee and previously served as the Senior Policy Advisor for the Senate EPW Committee, concentrating on water resources and conservation issues.