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Master Planning Program Ben Urbonas, PE, Program Manager
After 31 years with the District and the Master Planning Program, I have decided to retire in 2008. My last day at the office will be in April. This will be the last time I will be writing this article for the Flood Hazard News. It has been a gift to have been given this outstanding opportunity to work at the District and to interact and work with so many talented individuals within the District and throughout Colorado, the United States and many countries around the world. I have seen many changes in those years. Although we were already using calculators when I first joined the District (vs. slide rules), we proceeded to develop software and embrace the computer age over the years. It is hard to imagine and remember pouring over accounting sheets when doing CUHP and cost/benefit calculations in our master planning projects. It took hours to do what we can do in minutes now. Many of the concepts and practices that we take for granted now were being scoffed at or just beginning to gain acceptance, such as the use of on-site detention, keeping waterways open, and considering landscaping, aesthetics, multi-uses and terrestrial and aquatic concerns in the design of waterways and detention facilities. The issue of considering water quality was only on the edges of our radar screen. Today, in this region, we have an exemplary system of open green waterways and well functioning stormwater systems, one that has yet to be paralleled anywhere in the world. It still amazes me when I travel how many professionals in our field know of the District and, especially, it’s Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual. I hope I contributed somewhat to all of this. Leaving the District stirs up feelings of sadness, but I leave with much pride in having had been a part of all the many changes and progress we have seen here in the last 30 years. My special thanks go to Scott Tucker and David Lloyd for putting up with me for all these years and running cover whenever knowingly or unknowingly I stirred up things among our local governments, with the State and even with the Federal government. I will miss doing that a lot. At this time David Lloyd has not announced who will replace me. I am confident that whoever he chooses will do a great job in continuing what was started and will advance it all to a new level. I wish him or her much luck and success and offer the following advice: Approach the job with joy and with an attitude that you can make a difference. The rest will take care of itself; while the occasional bumps and bruises you get will quickly go way and be forgotten. Although I will no longer be with the District, Denver is home for Irena and me. My grandchildren will see more of me, whether they want to or not. Also, some of you will probably see me through my association with the Urban Watersheds Research Institute and professional organizations, which I hope to maintain for the foreseeable future. Planning Projects Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual This year we posted several corrections and an update of the Construction BMPs chapters of Volume 3. Most figures for that chapter are now in AutoCAD format for you to download and use. Do not forget to download the supporting spreadsheets that we have developed for many of the chapters of the USDCM. Software and Criteria Manual Users Support Group
If you have not already done so, go to the above “groups” website and sign on. Check one of the options to receive one e-mails in order to receive notices and message we post. District’s Annual Seminar |
