>THREE DECADES OF WATER LEADERSHIP

(Senate - March 06, 2006)

   Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, today is a significant day in the agriculture industry in southeast Idaho. Effective and judicious water management is critical to communities in Idaho. Allocation of this scarce resource, particularly in the extended drought over much of the last decade, requires a vision of the future, application of valuable experience and lessons learned in the past, and an appreciation of the wide spectrum of water users. Today, Ron Carlson, Snake River Watermaster of District No. 1, is retiring after over 30 years of service to southeast Idaho.

   Ron revolutionized irrigated agriculture in Idaho, bringing it into the 20th century with the introduction of computerized accounting and data collection in 1978 and the creation of the Water Bank, a formal water renting process. Ron ushered in technological advances into irrigated agriculture that gave water administrators the capability to create a model of river flows and reservoir capacity that compares baselines of yearly conditions. This system allowed for unprecedented river management and water supply projections for the Snake River system in Idaho. Ron's extensive knowledge and wisdom has helped maintain a critical balance between the multiple demands on this system by all legitimate water users, from tribes to the State to local entities.

���   Ron not only has dedicated his life to managing critical natural resources in southeast Idaho, he has also carried on the tradition of his parents in reaching out caring arms to disadvantaged youth. It is this calling that he intends to pursue in retirement, managing the Pearl House Project in Idaho Falls, a full-service residential youth center for children in crisis. I am certain that his vast management knowledge gained from years as watermaster will serve him well in this endeavor. I congratulate Ron and his family on his retirement and wish him well. Idaho's agriculture community's loss is the youth of southeastern Idaho's gain.